Six Student Government candidates will have a war of words at the UF SG Debate today.
The debate, which is sponsored by the Freshman Leadership Council and co-sponsored by Hispanic Students Association and Black Students Union, will be at the University Auditorium. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. and the debate starts at 7 p.m.
Alyssa Nieves, the council’s vice chairwoman for public relations, said this is the eighth time that the council has sponsored the debate. In previous years, the multicultural organizations hosted their own debates.
The presidential, vice presidential and treasurer candidates from the Students Party and the Swamp Party will each address predetermined questions. Students in attendance can tweet questions to the candidates before the debate begins with #UFSGDebate.
Nieves, a 21-year-old public relations junior, suggested that UF journalism professor Mike Foley should be the moderator of the debate because of his personality.
“We don’t want students to feel like the political process is boring,” she said.
Foley agreed to moderate his first SG debate. He said it’s important for students to know who is representing them.
“They ought to know what their representatives look like, sound like and think,” Foley said.
The council’s special events director, 21-year-old UF political science and economics junior Bryce Freeman, said it was a great opportunity for the student body to learn about the candidates without bias.
“Who we elect next week has a real impact on the University of Florida,” he said.
Contact Colleen Wright at cwright@alligator.org.
