News

Candidates spar during StuCo Presidential debate

In print | April 16, 2009

On Wednesday, April 15, two presidential hopefuls, Rachel Bell ’10 and Shaun Kelly ’10, met in Kohlberg Coffee Bar for a debate monitored by outgoing Student Council President Yongjun Heo ’09. The debate focused on issues surrounding IC/BCC groups, safety on campus and approaches to working with the student body and the administration.

Heo opened the debate by allowing all candidates for open Student Council positions to give an opening statement. Apart from the two candidates for president, all other candidates are running unopposed. In her statement, Bell emphasized the experience she gained this semester as Student Events Advisor and her goal of making Student Council more approachable. She also mentioned developing a handbook or flow chart to help student groups understand the process of getting funding from the council, and a plan to update the class rec book and make it accessible to all students.

In his statement, Kelly stressed the importance of the moment for Swarthmore, with a threatening financial crisis and a new college president with a new approach. As Student Council president, Kelly said that he would work to put student groups in direct contact with President Chopp, and that he has formulated a plan to devote less time to academics next year so that he can spend 20 to 30 hours a week on Student Council issues, a time commitment that he said was necessary to properly carrying out the duties of the president.

Both candidates spoke about safety issues in their statements, calling for a review of lighting around campus, as well as the creation of dialogue with Public Safety to update student safety practices.
In response to the first question the candidates were asked, about the implementation of a specific issue they had proposed, Kelly hit on the safety issue again, saying that he had already taken note of specific areas on campus that needed more lighting, and that with the input of students, facilities, and public safety he thought that night-time lighting could be augmented, greatly helping student safety.

Responding to a question about the most pressing issue facing the student body, Bell said that many groups on campus felt excluded, mentioning specifically varsity and club sports teams as well as other student groups that were unhappy about their funding. Bell said that she hopes to make both Student Council and the administration more open to these concerns.

Many of the questions the candidates were asked concerned IC/BCC issues. Asked about how they’ve tried to keep in touch with these issues over their years at Swarthmore, and how they plan to stay involved with these groups as Student Council President, Bell said that attending meetings and events was very important, as well as speaking with the hosts of these events after the fact, getting information about both how the event went and what can be done in the future, especially by Student Council, to make the events even more successful.

Kelly said that he’s been meeting with IC/BCC groups since December in an effort to better understand their concerns, but he admitted that one mistake he’s made over his three years here was not spending enough time with these groups. As president, Kelly stressed that this would be changed.

Asked about the possibility of Student Council helping student groups lobby for their political positions with the administration, both Kelly and Bell said that they felt Student Council’s role, which is to represent all Swarthmore students, would not allow it to take a side in a political issue, but that they hoped to use Student Council to make sure that the administration considered the opinions of all student groups.

Responding to an inquiry into how the candidates made the decision to run for president, Bell said that the thought had been in the back of her mind for a while, and that she felt it is a relatively easy step to take up the presidency after already serving on Student Council. Additionally, she said she feels very comfortable taking up a more active role, especially as it regards interacting with students and the administration.

Kelly said that he had been considering making a run for president this year because of a number of problems that he either noticed or were pointed out to him by other students, and he said that he felt that he was ready to take on the office of president in order to address these issues.

Kelly mentioned that, in high school, he became student body president after not having previously served on the council, a move he said was motivated by similar concerns to the ones that caused his candidacy this year.

Asked about the issues that motivated him to run, and if he tried to address those issues when they came up, Kelly pointed to the Swarthmore financial justice movement in the fall semester. According to Kelly, he and a few other concerned students met independently with the financial aid office to air their concerns.

When asked by a student about previous leadership roles the two candidates have had that could help prepare them for the presidency, Kelly referred to his time in high school as president of the student body and his more recent role as producer of the play “12 Angry Men.” Bell pointed to the events she’s planned at Swarthmore, along with the teaching she does over the summer.

One of the most obvious differences between the two candidates arose over Bell’s proposed handbook for student groups. While Bell said that a well-designed and well-advertised document could help groups better understand, and better utilize, the process of requesting funds, Kelly said that a handbook would not be his approach. Referring to his experience running the Student Employment Office, Kelly said beauracratic handbooks are rarely effective in helping students, and that he believed increased personal meetings with groups would better serve their needs.

The candidates disagreed along similar lines over how to build consensus and elicit the opinions of students as president. While Bell mentioned having students help her set the agenda for Student Council and drawing out student opinion by putting forward ideas in the Daily Gazette and The Phoenix, Kelly said that personal meetings with students and groups are the best ways to build consensus, and that as president he would hope to meet with as many people and organizations as possible.

In the final portion of the debate, the two candidates asked each other one question. Bell asked Kelly what he thought the dynamic of Student Council is currently and what he hoped it would be as president. Kelly said that he thought the current dynamic is one of governing by consensus, and he would hope to continue this, calling it a “noble goal.”

Kelly asked if Bell, as an honors Economics major and honors Political Science minor, would have the time necessary to devote to her role as president. In response, Bell pointed to current President Heo, who managed to do a “great job,” while still devoting time to other pursuits.

Voting commences on Saturday, April 18 and runs through Thursday, April 23.