RCSGA president candidates debate before election

“Would you rather fight a horse-sized duck or 50 duck-sized horses?” moderator Kyle Linardo asked juniors Angelo Suggs Jr. and Matt Logan as the final question in the Richmond College Student Government Association presidential debate.

“I’ll take the horse sized duck … I’m not taking the 50 opponents,” Suggs said to a small crowd at the Pier in Tyler Hanes Commons Monday night. “I feel the need to somehow twist that politically. We have many problems that we need to face, but I want to focus on one.”

Logan chose the opposite, to fight against 50 duck-sized horses. “There is disorganization in numbers, so without a true leader to really get those 50 duck-sized horses behind and my soccer-playing ability, I truly think those suckers would get punted out immediately,” he said.

The two juniors, who are both running for the position of RCSGA president, faced off in the debate on last night in the commons, the night before the election. Each candidate gave opening and closing statements, in addition to answering eight questions from the moderator and three from audience members. Both candidates had a minute and 30 seconds to answer each question. The candidates were then able to respond to their opponent if there was time remaining in his answer.

In response to a question regarding the student government’s biggest issue that will need to be addressed next year, Suggs focused on parking and transparency issues. “The two major ones that seem to come up are one, transparency, is knowing what your student government can do,” Suggs said. “And the second one which has plagued us, so to speak, for far too long, is parking.”

Logan responded to the same question by arguing the need for a specific RCSGA vision. “The biggest thing we need to do as a student government is form a vision,” Logan said. “Form a vision that is in line with our missions and values of our university, and we need to present that from a student perspective to our president and to our provost.”

The two candidates agreed that fostering a relationship with the new president, Ronald A. Crutcher, would be crucial to the success of the organization, in addition to working closely with Westhampton College Government Association. Both students also agreed that the transparency of the RCSGA organization needs to improve. “So, let’s start right now,” Logan said. “For all of you guys who don’t know, student government meetings are open every Wednesday to any student that is on campus.”

Logan outlined his goals in combating the transparency issue by discussing the creation of a new position within the student government organization. The position would be designed to specifically focus on outreach and communication with other organizations on campus. Logan also proposed introducing office hours for class senators, which would allow more visibility from the organization on campus, he said.

Suggs offered the possibility of live-streaming RCSGA forums for students on campus to increase transparency of the student government. Suggs discussed his desire to create a culture on campus where the student government is present for more than just food trucks during finals. “Those are the days you see us out there,” he said. “I want us to create that culture, where we are sitting at your table every day.”

Although transparency remains a goal for both candidates, Logan’s biggest goal as potential president focuses on fostering greater communication between the board of trustees and students.

“My main goal, if you’ve been following my campaign at all, is to really bridge the gap between people that are making decisions and the people that are being affected by those decisions,” he said.

“I think that this is an incredibly important time in our university administration with a new president and new provost,” Logan added. “What I really hope to push forward is a communication directly from the students to the board of trustees. … I think that there are plenty of people on this campus who can only name one member on the board of trustees and I think that is truly a shame.”

Suggs broke his main goals as potential president into three parts. The first goal is to take the notion of “One Richmond” a little bit further, he said. The second is to increase transparency and have the student body know what RCSGA is doing, and the third is to strengthen the connection with the board of trustees.

Both Suggs and Logan have had experience in RCSGA before, with Suggs being a two-time senator and Logan serving as class chair for the past three years.

Voting will take place on Tuesday March 3 from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. at https://wwws.richmond.edu/vote .

Contact Online Editor Lindsay Schneider at lindsay.schneider@richmond.edu