A mostly congenial debate between the two Student Senate parties turned contentious at times, prompting top university and senate officials to condemn their behavior.
Executive candidates from the FACE and RSVP tickets fielded questions from both moderator Taylor Longman and the audience regarding their platforms, their campaign strategies and themselves during the debate.
The first segment of the debate went smoothly with only Longman asking questions and no objections from the candidates.
RSVP’s executive board — presidential candidate Kyle Triplett, vice presidential candidate Roger Jones and treasurer candidate Chris Wimsatt — reiterated its platform’s goal to make OU “the best student-centered learning experience in America.”
FACE presidential candidate Matthew Wallace and his executive team — vice presidential candidate Sean Kelley and treasurer candidate Chrysten Crockett — spoke about their promises of diversity, accountability and fiscal responsibility.
Longman then asked a few questions culled from Twitter before opening the floor for audience participation. At that time, some members of the audience became “really harsh,” Longman said.
“I thought it would be a more professional setting,” she said. “Some of the questions … I thought were extremely out of place.”
Several questions in a row were addressed directly to FACE candidates. Academic Affairs Commissioner Zach George, who has publicly endorsed RSVP, asked why he saw Wallace tearing down RSVP fliers.
“I actually saw you guys erasing my chalk,” Wallace retorted, adding that he was caught up in the campaign.
After Scripps College of Communication Senator Shawn Silvis, who is running for at-large senator on the RSVP ticket, questioned Kelley’s experience and qualifications for the vice presidential seat, Wallace asked Longman if she would take more questions from people not wearing RSVP shirts.
“I would like to see in the future a way of weeding out pointed, loaded questions,” Wallace said after the debate.
RSVP presidential candidate Kyle Triplett said he planned to ask his ticket’s members to direct its questions toward both tickets in any future debates.
“We had a great turnout from our supporters,” he said, adding that he was happy with Longman’s questions at the beginning of the debate.
Current senate President Jesse Neader expressed his disappointment with the questions after the debate,saying they were “very out of line.”
“People need to grow up a little bit,” Neader said about the questions.
“I would have never had anybody on my ticket attack (my former opponent) Emily Hanford.”
Administrators also said they were disheartened by the debate’s tone. Dean of Students Ryan Lombardi and Vice President for Student Affairs Kent Smith both said students’ concerns should have been the focus of the discussion.
“I thought that there were some moments where comments were made that shouldn’t be made,” Smith said.“It has to be about doing what’s best for the students.”
Though he left early and had only heard that the debate became “heated,” Board of Elections Chairman Chauncey Jackson said the event did provide some value.
“It started off with some good dialogue,” he said. “It was nice to hear from Chrysten and Sean and Roger and Chris.”
Jackson said he curated the Twitter questions to makesure they were “relevant and fair.”
SAC At-Large Senator Evan Ecos, who has worked as an adviser for RSVP during its campaign, said most of senate is leaning toward RSVP for the elections.
“I think only until recently … senate was divided,” he said, adding that Wallace alienated members by attacking senate after leaving.
“A lot of people feel almost stabbed in the back.”
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@ThePostCampus
