2022 STUDENT SENATE DEBATES RECAP

ZACH HINEY, KNIGHT WIRE STUDENT SENATE REPORTER

The Wartburg Student Senate debates took place Tuesday night, with the two presidential tickets answering various questions, as well as talking about specific points in their plan. The debates started, however, with candidates for the Treasurer and Recorder positions.

The Recorder position was up first and the candidate is Grace Coffman, a third-year history major. Grace is involved with many organizations on campus such as the History Club and Outfly Committee. She said her goal as the Recorder would be to effectively and efficiently share Senate news with students. She also mentioned how her experience within her history major of writing a lot of papers has prepared her for this role. She is running unopposed on the ballet.

The Treasurer position was up next. Malcolm Newell, a third-year economics and business administration major, was the candidate speaking. He said that he understands the importance of the Treasurer position and is ready to fulfill the long legacy of great Treasurers. He also said that he hopes to get advice from the current Treasurer Trewin on how to do things, but also add his own creativity and knowledge. He is also running unopposed on the ballet.

After that, the President and Vice President candidates began their debate. There are two tickets this year. One is Presidential candidate Gordy Field and Vice Presidential candidate Ryleigh Parrack. Field is a third-year Physics major and Parrack is a second-year Music Therapy major. The other one is Presidential candidate Sam Bast and Vice Presidential candidate Addy Kaune. Bast is a fourth-year Engineering and Math double major and Kaune is a third-year History major. Each ticket talked

about their plans and vision for the student senate and Wartburg as a whole if they were elected.

Field and Parrack’s plan starts with a connection between the student body and Senate. They said improving the connection between those two groups will lead to a better experience for everyone on campus. The pair also talked extensively about the importance of diversity and inclusion in Wartburg’s campus and how they plan to promote and attend activities of the many diverse organizations Wartburg has.

Another point of the plan that Field and Parrack talked about was listening to the complaints of students and working to fix those problems. Field, in particular, talked about listening to his friends’ complaints and wanting to make a difference as a key reason why he decided to run for President. Field and Parrack also want the student body to know that, if elected, these positions would be close to the top of their hierarchy of things they prioritize.

In their closing statement, Field and Parrack reviewed their plan(connection between student body and Senate, promoting diversity, etc.) and they wanted the student body to know that they will work tirelessly to make Wartburg’s campus the best it can be.

Bast and Kaune’s started off their plan by saying that they want to be the voice of the student body and that they’ll do that by being open, active and honest. They want to improve the expectations of the Senate and, if elected, pick an executive team that matches the diversity of Wartburg. They also talked about wanting to attend different events by different groups on campus to get a feel for campus and to self-educate themselves on diversity and its importance at Wartburg.

The pair talked about how they have worked various jobs on campus and been a part of different executive teams. They said that experience will help them in their roles, if elected. They also want the student body to know that these roles would take precedence over other executive teams and activities.

Finally, Bast and Kaune talked about a few specific parts of their plan, if elected. Those parts include increasing outreach and volunteering from the Senate, increasing communication between the Senate and student body and working with students to address concerns they have about various parts of campus.

The election takes place on Tuesday, Feb. 8 and will be online. Students will receive an email that morning and will be able to vote from that email.