Illinois Student Council president and vice president candidates met for a town hall Wednesday night ahead of the Feb. 17-19 elections. Two pairs of running mates are vying for the spots.
Presidential candidate Jaden Campbell, junior in LAS, delivered remarks alongside his running mate, Ethan Lopez, junior in LAS. This is Campbell’s first year at the University, following three years at Parkland College, where he held student government positions, including student trustee.
Gabi DalSanto, junior in ACES and sitting ISC president, is running for a second presidential term. Her running mate is Omer Mohsin, junior in LAS, who did not serve as vice president alongside DalSanto this past year.
“We as a ticket, we’re here to chase excellence,” Mohsin said.
Mohsin and DalSanto said their platform emphasizes protecting free expression, solidarity with other movements and improving ISC’s organization.
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Moderators first asked the candidates about the main issues facing students at the University, and their plans for addressing them.
DalSanto commented that affordability in food, healthcare and housing was a main issue. Mohsin highlighted their goal of navigating issues students care about, such as global human rights issues and sustainability, with University administration.
Lopez said their ticket would address many of the same concerns, but added that accessibility in a variety of forms is a main issue facing students. He highlighted the importance of creating accessibility in campus buildings for disabled students, access to campus resources for RSOs and financial access to college for all.
“We can make sure that our communities and our community areas are supported; RSOs, cultural houses, things like that, that way students have a place to thrive and a place to connect and a place to grow,” Lopez said.
A Champaign-Urbana native, Campbell spoke often about wanting to bridge the gap between campus and the surrounding community.
“We have 5% African Americans here on this campus, but the second-biggest demographic here in Champaign-Urbana is African Americans,” Campbell said. “It is with our cultural organizations that we utilize them, and that we bring them and connect them with people in our city.”
DalSanto recapped her year as ISC president, referencing students’ rights advocacy and connecting students with resources like McKinley Health Center, local fire and police departments and DRES.
“I, as an individual right now, can stand in front of a student and say that I care about their issues and that I know directly how to help them,” DalSanto said. “Learning the administration and the bureaucracy that goes into a university is a daunting task, but I’ve already got it down.”
The candidates also provided their reactions to a recent Instagram post by the Illini Republicans. A now-deleted portion of the post seemingly depicted Alex Pretti being shot by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer, and has spurred discourse on free speech and administrative involvement over the past few weeks.
“We believe that ramifications should exist for this kind of intolerable speech,” Lopez said.
The candidates spoke about the need to improve the student body’s awareness of ISC. Lopez said the organization should be spending more time in the community, improving its social media presence and speaking with students across campus about their concerns and priorities.
An audience-submitted question asked DalSanto and Mohsin how they would seek to protect Jewish students, given that advocacy for Palestine is part of their campaign.
“It is not our intent to alienate any group of students ever,” DalSanto said. “Just because I believe that what is going on in Gaza is not right … does not mean that I think that Jewish students on this campus do not deserve the same full entitled rights of any other student here.”
The forum ended with closing remarks from both pairs, where they echoed their previous statements and asked for the audience’s support starting Tuesday.
Voting for ISC president and vice president, as well as a variety of other roles in student government, will be available online starting Tuesday at noon.
