The two teams competing for the positions of student body president and vice president participated in the Clemson Undergraduate Student Government general debate on Feb. 25. The debate was held in advance of the general election on March 5, which will decide the student body president and vice president.

The candidates met in Daniel 105 for the debate, which was open to the student body.

Question 1: What will you do to ensure that students from all academic backgrounds, such as STEM, humanities, agriculture and more, will feel represented in decision-making?

Freeman and Khaskhely plan to have a diverse group of students from every college on campus in their cabinet and listen to the concerns that are raised by the student advisory board.

Warnock and Fields currently have people on their campaign team from every academic college. In the future, they plan to personally meet with the president of each student advisory board throughout their administration.

Question 2: Now that diversity, equity and inclusion efforts are being eliminated, what will your campaign do to ensure minority students feel welcome?

Freeman and Khaskhely’s goal is to listen to these students, whether it’s via direct outreach or creating spaces for these students to voice their concerns. A specific example of changes they want to make is implementing more inclusive dining options that recognize cultural and religious observations.

Warnock and Fields intend to establish a Diversity Initiative Fund, which they plan to have administered by Clemson’s Council of Diversity Affairs. They also plan to implement required implicit bias training for CUSG leadership during their administration.

Question 3: What separates you from your opponents, and why should the student body vote for you and not the other candidates?

Freeman has supported many leadership and executive boards. Khaskhely is the Inclusion and Equity chair in Clemson’s undergraduate student senate.

Both Warnock and Fields have participated in the Student Senate in previous years, and have both served as general committee members in the CUSG executive branch.

Question 4: How do you plan to work throughout your time as CUSG president and vice president to ensure the student body the same results beyond just your campaign season and platform?

Freeman and Khaskhely plan to publish a checklist of their goals on the CUSG website and check off each one as they are accomplished so that the student body can actively hold them accountable.

Warnock and Fields have made their vision and action goals publicly available for Clemson students. They also want to restructure certain cabinet positions with the goal of consolidating responsibilities.

Question 5: How will you help freshmen feel more integrated into the Clemson community in terms of understanding Clemson traditions?

Freeman and Khaskhely both want to function as residential community mentors for incoming freshman students. They also intend to continue advocating for Clemson’s traditions and history.

Warnock and Fields want to create a Clemson history module in CU1000 to inform incoming students about Clemson’s history and traditions. They also want to make more mentoring opportunities available during Welcome Week.

Question 6: Given that Thomas Green Clemson’s will states that a student cannot serve on the board of trustees, how do you plan to overcome this and fulfill promises of increasing student advocacy in front of the board?

Freeman and Khaskhely intend to be persistent in pushing for student representation at the board of trustees meetings by utilizing relationships they already have with trustee members to help develop a plan of action regarding possible student representation.

Warnock and Fields intend to have student representatives present during the board of trustees meetings, whether it’s the student body president or a different appointed student representative, to consult in the conversations that the board has regarding major changes.

Question 7: For the vice presidential candidates, since one of your responsibilities is to attend Senate meetings every Monday night, how do you plan on utilizing that position and the opportunities that the Senate gives, and how will you engage in Senate culture?

Khaskhely plans on ensuring positive relations between the executive board of the Student Senate and the executive branch of CUSG.

After having served in the Student Senate previously, Fields is excited for an opportunity to return to the Student Senate with a new perspective and connections to accomplish various goals.

Question 8: Selecting cabinet secretaries is arguably one of the most important jobs of the student body president and vice president. Given this, what qualities are you looking for in future cabinet members in your administration?

Freeman and Khaskhely are looking for people who are passionate about Clemson and CUSG. They want personable, goal-driven students with diverse thoughts and perspectives in their cabinet.

Warnock and Fields are looking for cabinet members who are passionate about and love Clemson’s various communities. They are looking for people with hearts for service who are willing to contribute to their ideas.