Candidates for the Georgetown University Student Association Presidency and Vice Presidency debated, and many times politely agreed, about Georgetown issues in preparation for next Monday’s election. The debate, which lasted approximately 90 minutes, covered an exhaustive range of issues of concern to the candidates.
After short opening statements, the candidates opened the floor to questions from the media and students that included the issues of previous GUSA experience among the candidates, the legacy of the Morgenstern/De Man Administration, and concerns about a lack of diversity of representation in GUSA.
A central theme of the night’s debate was the value of previous GUSA experience. Josh Green (SFS ‘06) and Lauren Butts (SFS ‘06) have touted their position as sophomores and GUSA “outsiders” a central plank in their campaign platform.”We feel now that GUSA is the Leavey 400, where leaders appoint each other to different positions. This is unfortunate and we want to change it,” Butts said.
As an unabashed GUSA “insider,” however, Adam Giblin (SFS ‘06) disagreed with the Green-Butts characterization. “We’re not entrenched by the system, but we know the system. Everyone should consider themselves a GUSA insider,” he said.
Reacting to a question about the legacy of the Morgenstern/De Mann Administration, most of the candidates felt over all that it had been successful. Several, however, questioned portions of that legacy.
Eric Lashner (CAS ‘05), for example, questioned the current president’s openness to outsiders. “Brian’s administration wasn’t as transparent as it could have been,” he said.
Chris Schmitter (SFS ‘06), who stressed his originality, said that he wasn’t opposed to the Morgenstern’s administration specifically, only to the GUSA system as a whole. “We feel like our campaign is not like any other campaign at all,” he said.
