UPDATED: April 8 at 1:16 p.m.

Candidates for Syracuse University’s next Student Association president, vice president and comptroller sparred over funding for controversial speakers and discussed SU’s response to #NotAgainSU during a virtual debate Tuesday evening. 

The debate, which The Daily Orange and CitrusTV co-hosted, brought together three pairs of respective presidential and vice presidential candidates: Justine Hastings and Ryan Golden, Morgan Eaton and David Williams, and Sadia Ahmed and Yanan Wang. 

Candidates joined in via video chat. The event, typically held in person, moved online after SU canceled on-campus instruction in response to the coronavirus pandemic. 

The SA Finance Board’s approval of the College Republicans’ $39,000 funding request for a speaking event featuring conservative commentator Ben Shapiro in early October dominated the discussion at times. Candidates were divided over whether the Finance Board should have denied the request.

Julio Burgos, the sole candidate running for comptroller, began the debate with a question-and-answer session. During the session, Burgos said the Finance Board had acted objectively in its decision.

Eaton and Williams said they do not approve of speakers who support hatred and bigotry, but said the Finance Board had acted objectively in its decision. The pair encourages the Department of Public Safety to conduct a thorough review ensuring the safety of students before inviting Shapiro, Eaton said.

Ahmed said she would like to see students engage in more discourse about controversial speakers. 

Golden said the Finance Board was not at fault for approving the College Republicans’ funding request, but said the Assembly should have asked who the speaker was and make an informed decision to deny the budget request. Hastings and Golden have drafted a resolution alongside several SU students that condemns Shapiro’s planned visit to campus.

The Finance Board reflects the student body and should not fund speakers who do not support SU’s values, they said.

“Ben Shapiro should not be funded by SA,” Golden said. “This isn’t conservatism, it is hate.” 

The candidates also debated the university’s response to #NotAgainSU. All three campaigns said they would work to hold SU administration accountable for commitments it made to student protesters.

#NotAgainSU, a movement led by Black students, has protested SU’s handling of at least 32 racist, anti-Semitic and homophobic incidents that have occurred on or near SU’s campus since November. Organizers held a sit-in at the Barnes Center at the Arch for eight days in November and a 31-day occupation of Crouse-Hinds Hall that ended March 18. 

Chancellor Kent Syverud in November signed 16 of #NotAgainSU’s initial 19 demands as written, making revisions to the remaining three. Interim Vice Chancellor and Provost John Liu published a list of commitments to the movement after concluding negotiations on organizers’ revised demands during the Crouse-Hinds occupation.

All three campaigns said they supported #NotAgainSU’s continued calls for the resignation of several SU administrators, including Syverud and DPS Chief Bobby Maldonado. 

“David and I wholeheartedly support the #NotAgainSU movement,” Eaton said. “The administration has not been working for the students. And these movements, their demands, and the change they have been able to achieve has highlighted that.”

The administration has not been thorough in addressing the demands of student protesters, and none of their demands should be marked as fully met, Ahmed said. Hastings commended the movement and said that SA needs to continue working with the Board of Trustees’ special advisory committees to continue to advocate for change. 

Candidates also discussed how the university has handled the transition to online learning. All three candidates agreed that SU should partially refund students’ tuition for the spring semester and reduce tuition if online classes continue into the fall semester.

SU is evaluating whether it will resume on-campus classes in the fall, said Mike Haynie, the leader of the university’s coronavirus response team. 

“The university should provide tuition refunds in addition to room and board refunds,” Ahmed said. “We should not be paying the same amount.”

The university could have handled the move-out process better, Hastings said. After announcing on-campus classes would be suspended for the rest of the semester, SU encouraged students to leave university housing by March 22. 

Students were given very few dates to move out, and many don’t know when they’ll be able to retrieve their belongings, Hastings said. 

Each presidential candidate also gave a statement on what qualities they have that sets them apart from other candidates. 

Hastings said she has experience advocating for students from marginalized communities. For Eaton, he said being passionate about the student body’s interests is what sets he and Williams’ campaign apart. 

Wang and Ahmed are the second campaign in SA history that two women of color have led, Ahmed said. The duo has needed relationships with SU administrations, she said. 

Voting for SA’s president, vice president and comptroller opens April 13 on MySlice and goes through April 17.

CORRECTION: A previous version of this post stated that Hastings and Golden opposed the Finance Board’s decision to approve funding for Ben Shapiro’s visit to campus. Golden said during the forum that the Finance Board was not at fault. The Daily Orange regrets this error.

Published on April 8, 2020 at 1:57 am

Contact Mira: mlberenb@syr.edu