Financial issues facing both the University and current students dominated the debate among the candidates for student trustee hosted by the Illinois Student Senate and the Student Organization Resource Fee board Tuesday night.

Six candidates are running for student trustee: Carey Ash, graduate student senator; Mike Cunningham, junior in LAS; LaDarius DuPree, junior in LAS; Ryan Gleason, junior in LAS; Shao Guo, vice president-internal of the Illinois Student Senate; and Brian Siegel, junior in media and student senator. 

The election for student trustee, who serves on the University’s board of trustees and shares a vote with the Springfield and Chicago campus student trustees, will be held by online ballot on March 5-6. 

Cunningham said his long-term goal is to see a higher rate of employment for University graduates by utilizing the University’s alumni network.

“I would want to bring (alumni) here, open it up for everyone who is an undergraduate to actually get their dream job,” Cunningham said.

Siegel, a former Illini Media employee, said the state of Illinois is in debt to the University. He said the relationship between the state and the University needs to be strengthened, and funds should be made more readily available to the University.

“All of the things and programs and everything we want to do to make the University better is going to take money,” he said.

Ash returned to this point later, explaining that the state is broke and cannot even pay its workers. He said he would like to bring all three University of Illinois campuses together to solve the system’s problems.

“Waiting on the state of Illinois will get us nowhere,” Ash said. “The University of Illinois is independent of its own right, and though the state may sink, this ship will stay afloat.”

The trustee candidates also voiced their opinions on a possible Assembly Hall renovation referendum question that asks for $25 per semester in student fees.

Guo, junior in ACES, explained that he dislikes this referendum question, stating that Assembly Hall has not yet reported to the student senate where exactly these fees would go. This concerns Guo — if ISS does not know where these fees are going, neither would the average student, he claimed.

“It’s unacceptable for them not to come and talk about their budget, it’s unacceptable for them not to even come to the senate — not even broadcast on their website item-by-item on what our money would go towards,” Guo said. “Shame on them. Shame on Assembly Hall.”

DuPree also had problems with the student fee, saying that Assembly Hall is fine the way it is.

“They’re asking for the students to pay for it?” he asked. “That’s outrageous.”

Gleason said the designs for the renovations look amazing, but the cost is too high for students.

“To many students here who rely on loans, grants, that $50 means maybe one less book, that $50 means maybe one less night out — for what?” Gleason asked. “For a student that potentially doesn’t even attend Assembly Hall.”

Tyler can be reached at [email protected].

Editor’s Note: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that Shao Guo   is a sophomore in DGS. Guo is a junior in ACES. The Daily Illini regrets this error.