On Tuesday night, the Student Government Association held a presidential debate in preparation of elections being held today.
Xander Falleck, junior business and finance major, and Maria Temples, sophomore pre-chiropractic major, are running against each other for president with Falleck’s vice president as Chard Howley, architecture major, and Temples’ vice president Frank Winger, sophomore business management major.
Due to a lacrosse game, Falleck could not attend the debate but, Howley filled in to answer questions on behalf of Falleck.
According to Howley, he and Falleck want to help students get involved in campus affairs. They plan to make campus a better place. One specific goal Howley talked about was finding away to utilize south campus. Howley talked extensively about the importance of growing the SGA community and getting policies changed with a “we can” attitude.
“We want take things to the next level, and get SGA as a big presence on campus,” Howley said.
Part of Temples’ platform is to increase “commuter pride.” She wants to tackle student issues and “make Marywood a better place.” Part of her campaigning strategy has been the creation of the hashtag #forthewood to give students an opportunity to share their thoughts and issues about campus. Temples also wants to create a Marywood family where students feel comfortable approaching one another. Temples said that in order to get things done within SGA, they are willing to work with others and “do the dirty work: to get things done.
“I love Marywood more than anything,” Temples explained. “There are a lot of things I want to do with Marywood and I can’t do them alone.”
Both candidates agreed that growing a presence on campus is a goal they want to achieve and would like more students to become active in SGA. The debate lasted about 40 minutes and took place during the SGA meeting.
Elections will be held in the Main Dining Hall of the Nazareth Student Center today from 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. – 7 p.m. All undergraduate students are able to vote in SGA elections.
