Student Government candidates face criticism during debate

Monday’s Student Government presidential and vice presidential debates between the Myers-Markovic “Bobcats First” alliance and the Jordan-Emma “Shooting for the Stars” alliance featured lively discussion around campaign policies.

The presidential debate began with three candidates: Abby Myers, psychology junior and candidate with “Bobcat First” alliance; Jordan Hunter, accounting sophomore and candidate with “Shooting for the Stars” alliance and Carter Lawson, political science sophomore running as an independent. During opening statements, Lawson resigned his candidacy, endorsed Hunter and left the stage.

“I decided that looking at how both parties responded to the situation on [Thursday] with the graffiti would judge where my vote is,” Lawson said. “I witnessed one campaign condemn the protests… I saw another campaign go immediately to the streets, asking students how they felt. I am supporting Mr. Jordan.”

Much of the controversy in the debate revolved around a photo of Dakota Autrey, a political science sophomore and current senator-at-large in the Student Government, dressed as an ICE Agent. The photo was originally posted to Autrey’s Instagram on Feb. 16, but has since been deleted. The picture resurfaced on YikYak and then on Reddit Monday morning. Autrey was originally running as a part of the “Bobcats First” alliance, but was removed from their ticket via a statement minutes before the debate began.

“We are aware of the photo featuring our former Senatorial candidate Dakota Autrey, which has been circulating on social media,” the statement read. “After careful consideration, we have decided to no longer align ourselves with Candidate Autrey.”

In tense exchanges throughout the debate, Myers and Hunter repeatedly discussed the Autrey photograph. Hunter questioned Myers’ character and pressed her on if she knew about this photo before Monday, while Myers accused Hunter of trying to fan the flames of a situation that was resolved already.

“We investigated, we talked through it and had conversations with people, and we made the best decision that we could for our group,” Myers said. “The values that we hold don’t change from [the] distraction that y’all are attempting to make from it.”

The debate covered four main topics: how candidates plan to amplify student voices not previously addressed by Student Government, strategies to improve student safety on campus, proposals to revamp University Seminar and improve academic resources and strategies to address sustainability issues at Texas State.

Myers and Hunter differed when discussing plans on how to educate incoming freshmen on how to stay safe on campus.

My idea, that I already talked to UPD about, and they’d love to do it, is having [freshmen] sit down at each [New Student Orientation] and walk through dangers of campus,” Hunter said. “Not to scare [freshmen] but to give them the right mindset, to get them mentally prepared to come to college.

Myers proposed a more personal approach, focused on improving campus lighting and having outreach throughout the year.

“What we can do is extend to the [resident assistants] to be like, ‘you guys have a position on your floor to be able to do events, to be able to engage with things, ‘” Myers said.

Both campaigns also prioritized sustainability. Myers’ plan included adding more drought-resistant plants to Texas State to reduce the campus’s water usage and creating recycling and upcycling programs for students to donate items they no longer need.

“Let’s adopt a highway; let’s clean up on the side of the road. It’s not as glamorous as sitting in a senate meeting but that’s the point, we are supposed to be student servants,” Myers said

Hunter criticized Myers’s program for being too focused on Student Government and said he plans on partnering with student organizations to engage the whole campus in sustainability efforts.

“Adopt a highway is great publicity, but that doesn’t engage students; it engages people within Student Government,” Hunter said. “I plan to utilize the unused manpower at Texas State. We have so many student orgs that are willing to partner with us to do a campus clean up. With the amount of student orgs we have, we could have two campus clean ups a week.”

The vice presidential debate between Nikola Markovic, computer science and mathematics junior and Emma Stampley, geography and urban planning junior, also took place before the main presidential debate.

Markovic is an international student from Serbia and is focused on bridging the gap between student government and minority students groups.

“I’m running on a platform of empowering voices that have previously haven’t been heard,” Markovic said. “I know how it feels, not my voice heard at times, one of my biggest platforms is serving minority voices.”

Stampley is a first-gen student and serves as president of Texas State’s Panhellenic Council and as the director of sustainability for Student Government.

“I am really passionate about encouraging everyone to be engaged,” Stampley said. “I feel like that is the number one way to feel belonging, especially here at Texas State, and I want to give that opportunity to every student.”

Voting for Student Government will open at 8 a.m. on Thursday, March 27 and close at 5 p.m. on Friday, March 28. Students can vote on the Bobcat Organization Hub.

For more information on Student Government and the election process, students can visit its website.