SGA candidates present platforms in Barnard forum

At the Student Government Association Representative Council Candidates Forum last night at Barnard, some of the candidates were not actually present. Instead, campaigning from abroad, these students—including presidential candidate Karen Kwan, BC ’10, who is in Greece—had proxies speak on their behalf.

Ideas about the Nexus, Fireside Chats, and financing were just a few of the topics included in students’ speeches. All candidates for positions on the Executive Board and representatives to the Representative Council presented their platforms at the event, moderated by Daphne Larose, BC ’10 and Junior Representative to the Board of Trustees, and Glenda Smiley, BC ’09.

“It’s really important that these forums are held, just so the candidates feel like they’re talking to someone, even if there’s not that many people in the room,” Larose said. “And it’s a really great way for students on campus to hear the platforms of the candidates because a lot of times students on campus don’t really know who their reps are in SGA.”

All candidates running for the same position had three minutes to present, then they returned to the front of the room for a short question and answer session. Kwan and Katie Palillo, BC ’10, are both running for SGA President.

Many students at the forum participated in this year’s question-and-answer period, compared to the blank stares that Larose said characterized the responses of audience members in previous years.

“It really gave the candidates an opportunity to see what’s on the students’ minds and what the students would like them to focus on just by virtue of them thinking its important enough to ask about,” Smiley said. “It might have raised certain questions that they hadn’t asked themselves while they were preparing their platform.”

“Often times people run for these positions or they hear about them but they have no idea what the job really entails, so this is the first stepping stone in figuring out and learning what this is,” Larose said. “Even if you’re not participating in the forum, its good to come and listen and get a sense of what that job entails if in the future you think you would want to run for something.”