Student Government candidates lay out their campaign platforms
The gubernatorial debate was held on the Boca campus.
Photo courtesy of SG
February 11, 2017
Fifteen students and Student Government advisers gathered Friday for the spring 2017 Florida Atlantic Boca campus gubernatorial debate.
Elections board chair Robert Mooney and the new Boca campus elections commissioner Zachary Sautter planned the debate, which was held in the Live Oak Palm Room behind the Student Union.
Candidates running for governor included sophomore nursing major Marianne Alex and junior business health administration major Der’Resha Bastien.
Alex currently serves in the House of Representatives as the president pro-tempore.
“I believe in simplicity,” Alex said. “People need to be educated. We need to make sure students can understand what is going on.”
Bastien spoke about making sure the members of the FAU community are aware of what is happening on campus.
“A lot of students don’t know what initiatives are on campus and I want to make sure there’s more transparency about programs for students as well as Student Government,” she said.
When asked by senior communication studies major Fakaira Gabriel how she plans on increasing student awareness of clubs, Bastien said that she wants to work with Students Advocating for Volunteer Involvement. The Student Government organization “provides community service and leadership opportunities to all interested students,” according to its website.
“Greek life is especially about philanthropy,” Bastien said. “We need to blanket the campus with information about opportunities for student involvement on campus.”
Alex also emphasized the importance of student involvement but didn’t think flyers are the best approach.
“I throw out flyers. We need to increase our online presence,” Alex said.
Elections board chair Mooney would like to see more students take part in campaign events.
“Students can volunteer to help out the elections board with tabeling, but will have to attend a brief 15-minute training session on Feb. 15 at 1 p.m. or Feb. 16 at 4 p.m.,” Mooney said.
FAU students can go to Owl Central to cast their vote.
Polls open on Feb. 21 at midnight and close Feb. 22 at 11:59 p.m.
Benjamin Paley is a contributing writer with the University Press. For information regarding this or other stories, email [email protected] or tweet him @benpaley92.
Nate Nkumbu is a contributing writer with the University Press. For information regarding this or other stories, email [email protected] or tweet him @FoureyedNate.
