CUSG tri-executive candidates debate in a livestream from the University Memorial Center on Wednesday, March 20. (Greta Kerkhoff/CU Independent)
As elections approach for the University of Colorado Boulder’s Student Government, candidates debated campus priorities from drug safety to improved transportation between Williams Village and main campus.
CUSG’s elections will be open through the Buff Portal from April 1 through April 5. In the spring elections, three tri-executive members will be elected as one ticket and will serve as spokespeople for the student body. In addition, the members will provide goals for CUSG’s executive cabinet.
The three student groups running, Exel, GOLD and Ignite, each presented different concerns at the candidate’s debate in the University Memorial Center on Wednesday.
The Exel ticket is primarily concerned with wellness, community and connection. The group emphasized the need to increase drug safety and training on campus.
“There should be much more awareness, and this can come in the form of teaching students how to administer Narcan starting their freshman year, as well as teaching them how to use fentanyl test strips,” said Exel member Alex Radz.
Narcan is currently available for any students at the Wardenburg Health Center.
The group also discussed initiatives to strengthen community and connection on campus, especially between students of different years.
“You’re thrown into a school of 34,000 students just not knowing what to do,” said Exel member Tyler Rowan. “I think one thing we could implement is connection amongst the upperclassmen to the newer students just so they have that mentorship to help guide them.”
Exel proposed an increase of mental health resources, club funding and to make efforts to improve transportation between Williams Village and main campus.
GOLD is concerned with access, expansion and sustainability.
“Essentially what that is, is taking the great resources we have that may be lacking in certain areas and expanding those where they need to be,” said GOLD member Nicholas Brand. “Making sure we have contraceptives where they need to be, making sure we have test strips and opioid blockers where they need to be, expanding resources like NightRide and a lot of the things we have already that just need that one extra step to be a great resource.”
GOLD members emphasized the need to help students understand what they are paying for and how to access university-provided resources. The group proposed dedicating a section of the Buff Portal to list resources included in their tuition, as well as CUSG representatives to contact for further information.
As for sustainability, GOLD members said they wanted stronger action from the university.
“I want to see more coming from our school and I want to see CUSG become the voice that fights for students ensuring that we’re being as green and sustainable as possible,” said GOLD member Connor Chancey.
Last month, the university’s Climate Action Plan committee held a panel that laid out CU Boulder’s goal to to achieve an overall 50% emissions reduction by 2030 and encouraged the community to participate in working toward this goal.
Some of GOLD’s proposed initiatives include solar adoption, expansion of electric vehicles on campus as well as encouraging the use of clean energy.
Ignite is concerned with sustainability, progress and advocacy.
Regarding sustainability, the group proposed reusable dining hall ware and reduced food waste.
As for its goal of progress, Ignite member Aaditya Pore said, “We want to progress CUSG to a point where it can be definitively beneficial for every single student on campus.”
Pore also noted his previous involvement in CUSG as a representative-at-large.
In addition to the tri-executive race, seven students are running for four representative-at-large seats on the legislative council. The representative candidates, if elected, will craft legislation and join various boards representing student interests.
“We know what we can promise you,” he said. “We made tangible impacts on the student experience.”
Regarding advocacy, Ignite strives to connect students with CUSG but also with external parties like state legislature and city council, for policies beyond CUSG’s control.
One of the most prevalent issues throughout the debate was affordable housing in Boulder.
“We want to expand our relationship with off-campus housing,” Brand, a member of the GOLD ticket, said.
Fellow GOLD member Chancey agreed, adding that he was not prepared for the difficulty of finding off-campus housing.
“I just moved in and then I was like, ‘Oh, I have to find four people to share a house with,’” he said. “That wasn’t something that was made aware to me… We want to make sure students have access to that information.”
The university has made available services to help students transition to off-campus living, including Ralphie’s List, a website designed to help students find housing and roommates.
The high cost of rent in the Boulder area was also a talking point in the discussion.
Ignite member Pore shared stories from students who considering leaving CU Boulder due to the high cost of living close to campus.
“We need to bring those concerns to city council because they can fix it,” he said, “They need to know what we’re saying. Students have an issue with not going to city council historically; we want to change that.”
Each ticket concluded with a statement affirming the group’s purpose for running.
“The GOLD ticket understands that CUSG is not a title, it’s a job,” said Chancey. “We’re here to work for the student body.”
“We want to make sure we hit the ground running. We promise what we can do; we make sure to share all of that with the students,” said Ignite member Pore.
“We want to be the best listeners we can be for the student body,” Rowan, an Exel member, said.
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Greta Kerkhoff at Greta.Kerkhoff@colorado.edu.
