RCSGA debate focuses on improving campus dialogue

Two students vying to become the next Richmond College Student Government Association president expressed a strong initiative to reform the lack of student participation in major campus issues, events and decisions during a debate that began at 8 p.m. Thursday in the Tyler Haynes Commons.

In a secluded room in the third floor of the Commons, the two candidates addressed a crowd of fewer than 20 students -- a low turn out that one of the students in the audience commented on later in the evening, as he asked the candidates about the breakdown of communication on campus.

Moderator Matt Albertelli and audience members posed questions to junior Drew Howell and junior Mike Murray, who had served on the senate for two years before running for RCSGA president.

The candidates addressed topics ranging from advancements in student organization funding, to the dangers of Boatwright Road, to the lack of student knowledge about early registration for athletes to current research about implementing self-scheduled final exams. But their focus was on the need to improve the breakdown in communication on campus between the university's administration, RCSGA and the general student body.

Responding to the communication dilemma on campus, Murray explained his plans to get the student body actively behind the senate.

"We need to get students' voices heard," Murray said.

Howell elaborated on the "too busy" culture that students at Richmond use to excuse themselves from sporting and campus events -- an excuse he said he had also been guilty of using. The senate needed to change the culture of the university by being proactive and leading by example, he said.

Murray and Howell said they hoped to make the students more responsible for the decisions made on campus by getting them involved in the decision-making process. They expected to do this by working with President Edward Ayers to apply the university's Strategic Plan to best benefit the overall student body's needs on campus.

"We need to maintain and open student dialogue," Howell said.

Voting for the position will be open to all students from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. March 24. Results will be announced at 9 p.m. March 24.

Contact reporter Dani Pycroft at dani.pycroft@richmond.edu