FUSA candidates squared off Thursday on issues they perceive face students at Fairfield University and platforms to woo voters to the polls.
Rory Butterly ’05, Paul Duffy ’05, Ben Manchak ’05 and Kevin Neubauer ’05 took to the microphone to present their platforms to an audience of a few dozen in the Barone campus center. For these candidates the debate was particularly important because they will face each other in a primary election on Tuesday.
Absent from the debate was confirmed candidate Frank Arrigo ’05, who did not attend the organizational meeting and whose candidacy was not acknowledged by debate moderator Jamie Farrell ’06.
Candidates’ resumes and leadership experiences were talking points throughout the exchange, perhaps because an incumbent, Neubauer, is seeking re-election.
Neubauer deemed his administration a “banner year” for FUSA, citing higher attendance at programming events and increased club activity as the barometers of his term.
Neubauer also declared last year’s campaign promises met when asked, and said FUSA Senate would provide his pledged professor evaluations with an internet system at the end of the year.
The candidates seeking to take his job expressed a different opinion. Manchak said Neubauer’s promise will go unfulfilled for two semesters and evaluations at the end of the year “does us no good,” because registration would have already occurred.
Neubauer said electing him would be timesaving and “economical,” because it would not be necessary to pay for the president’s training expenses. He also said the personal relationships he has formed with administrators would prove to be strong assets in serving the student body.
Neubauer also referred to conversations with administrators and beach residents as indicators that this past year has been successful in repairing the university’s strained town-gown relationship. This was also one of his campaign promises.
One FUSA senator, who has lived at the beach for almost two years, disagreed after the debate.
“I haven’t seen or heard of any progress in students rights at the beach. This is something Neubauer pledged he’d work on,” said Sean Klock ’04.
Candidates advanced their platforms at the debate as well.
Duffy, with two years experience as an resident assistant, called for more unity among the different organizations on campus and the classes of students. He also called for more communication. Under his leadership, Duffy said “FUSA will break boundaries.”
If re-elected, Neubauer said he would look into having a student involved with the Board of Trustees meetings and have students express themselves in department level meetings where curricula are determined.
Butterly was hesitant to outline a campaign platform because, he said, he was not as well versed with the inner workings of FUSA. He said, however, he would come up with “workable” solutions to problems as they arose.
Downplaying his inexperience, Butterly said, “I don’t believe experience matters.”
Manchak proposed a “town hall style” meeting to be held weekly or bi-weekly where students could voice their concerns and interests to FUSA members more directly. He said FUSA has suffered a “disconnect” from students.
Duffy, in response to Manchak’s idea, said such forums were a good idea. He pledged to spend lengthy amounts of time-if needed-to answer questions.
“I’ll stay for as long as it takes,” he said concerning his involvement with these potential forums.
Duffy expressed a common sentiment among some candidates. He said FUSA needed to be “the students’ organization,” as opposed to a closed organization.
Ben Manchak said FUSA had to be an organization “for students.”
Preceding the presidential debates were the two candidates running for the position of VP of Programming-incumbent Jillian Grant ’05 and the challenger, Amy Gasiorowski ’05. Grant said experience she gained in the position last year should be voters’ prime reason to vote for her.
Gasiorowsk, in response, said, “[I] Can’t deny the merit found in experience. However, FUSA has failed to create any voice [for the students] at all.”
Gasiorowski is running on the same ticket with Manchak and Brett Ritterbeck ’05 – a candidate for VP of Senate.
Ritterbeck and Kevin Saville ’05 squared off in the debate for that post. In their opening statements, Ritterbeck pledged to “Make real and tangible results,” while Saville said “I will give you change.”
Ritterbeck pointed out his chairmanship of the “highly successful” FUSA peer-advising program.
Saville countered, citing leadership within RHG, IRHG, and two years on the senate on his resume.
The election commission conducted the presidential debates with questions provided by a student member of campus ministry and two debate team representatives. After this portion of the debate, the microphone was offered to the audience.
Duffy summed up the day’s events and the upcoming race. “This is going to be a damn good race,” he said.
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