Debates for the spring Undergraduate Student Government election will be held in the point lounge on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Candidates for USG President and Vice President will debate at 12 p.m. on Tuesday, with those for Student Trustee debating at 1 p.m. Wednesday. The current president and vice president, Christelle Joseph and Julia Olszewski, will moderate.
At each debate, candidates will have two minutes for opening statements, after which the moderators will pose policy-related questions. Each candidate will have one minute to respond, followed by a 30 second rebuttal.
Audience members can pose their own questions at the end of the debate. Each candidate will have two minutes to respond to each audience question, with a 30 second rebuttal at the moderator’s discretion. If there are no in-person questions, moderators will ask questions submitted in advance.
The Mass Media sent requests for comment to every candidate. Only the Orellana-Phuong campaign responded.
My name is Cristian Orellana, I am a 3rd year public policy major and the Speaker for the Undergraduate Student Government, I am running with Aidan Phuong a 3rd year biology Student, and the current Asian Student Center Coordinator. Together we have a combined 6 years of Student Government experience, representing students’ concerns and interests for the past 3 years at UMass Boston, and we hope to continue advocating for all student voices as your next President and Vice-President of the student body. Experience matters as we each have 3 years of helping clubs and organizations with their concerns on campus and will not ignore the current issues that our students face in these times, such as the rising cost in attendance, accessibility, and resources that our university should be providing. With an Orellana–Phuong administration, if elected, we will address the institutional and structural cracks that our university faces directly We will fight to advocate for the interests of the student body on how our tuition money is spent to hold all faculty, staff, administration, and ourselves accountable to the student body. Posters around campus will say “I am Because You Are” the word Ubuntu is of African philosophy meaning “humanity to others,”. We must show humanity for these times and be audacious with defending our students rights no matter what. We hope you choose strong & experienced leadership and vote for Cristian Orellana & Aidan Phuong on UMBeInvolved on April 14th.
