As the Student Government Association (SGA) election polls opened on Tuesday, March 27 both SGA Presidential candidates Joe Hyman and Josh Darst debated at 4:00 p.m. prior to the polls opening at 5:30 p.m. in front of about 70 people. Jonathan Page, director of citizen leadership and social justice education, moderated.
Both candidates are rising seniors, have served on the SGA executive board and felt strongly about the role of SGA in the Longwood and Farmville community, the relationship between students and the Longwood University Police Department (LUPD) and the budget for student organizations.
In his opening statement, Joe Hyman said if elected he would “encourage Longwood to be open minded and to include all students regardless of identity and to rid ourselves of stereotypes”.
Josh Darst began his opening statement by thanking those that were gathered and telling them some about himself. As a longtime member of SGA, as well as one of its executive members, he felt that only the executive members seemed to be the one with a voice. If elected, Darst pledged that he would “remove the stigma around SGA”.
Darst said he would like to see “a higher retention of candidates, as well as many new faces and a higher quality from those serving” on SGA.
With that Darst also included his plan of live streaming all SGA meetings through Facebook to add transparency. He also said he wanted to hold office hours so students could talk to him personally about issues they were seeing on campus.
Both candidates wanted to see campus exercise their first amended rights further.
“I’m a political science major, so I know the ins-and-outs of politics,” said Hyman. “I want to protect student’s first amendment rights, everyone has a voice.”
“There are a lot more restrictions now and some are justified. SGA is outside of politics, it’s really more like a business,” said Darst.
When it came to the budget, Darst wanted to see more emphasis on balancing the budget while Hyman wanted to see the five tiered system changed.
“We need to emphasize fiscal responsibility. It’s a balancing act and we need to balance needs. It’s not a perfect science and the pot of money is not getting bigger,” said Darst.
“I understand the tier five system for organizations, but I think it’s wrong. Tiers are wrong, if one organization is more active on campus than they will receive more money,” said Hyman.
In reference to off-campus organizations Hyman said, “It is unacceptable to negatively refer to other groups...we need more organizations on campus.”
“One group is sanctioned, another is not, what we’re doing is not working. We need to encourage IFC (Interfraternity Council) to make change and to have a voice,” said Darst.
While both candidates emphasized the need for a better relationship between students and LUPD Darst stated “students often feel at odds with LUPD”.
Darst said he wanted to see parking tickets decrease in price from $50 to $25.
“We’ve made a lot of progress on LUPD being responsive,” said Hyman. “Ultimately LUPD’s responsibility is to protect and serve. Behind the scenes parking and ensuring students are safe late at night is still an issue.”
Hyman proposed a cookout where students could interact with LUPD outside of their normal work hours and see them with their families.
In his closing statement, Darst reiterated his desire for transparency with SGA as well reinforcing the importance fairness and service in the organization. He believes that his experience and skills make him the ideal candidate for SGA president.
“We agree on many things but do we need a new look, a new lens, a new way,” said Hyman in his closing statement.
Student Government Association (SGA) presidential candidates Josh Darst and Joe Hyman debated on March 27 at 4 p.m. in Blackwell Hall.
