On Saturday evening, the Innovation Academy (IA) Ambassadors held a UF Student Government Town Hall in preparation for the upcoming elections. IA students have been underrepresented and largely voiceless in SG since the program began, and this event was an attempt to change that. The expectation was to have Access and Swamp Party executive candidates address concerns pertaining to Innovation Academy as a panel.
Students were able to email questions prior to the debate, and a group of IA Ambassadors chose questions with a preference for those pertaining to the Innovation Academy. In addition, there were index cards available at the event for the audience to submit additional questions. The event was to be moderated by the Assistant Director of the Innovation Academy.
Both parties were notified of the event’s location, time and logistics at the same time — Thursday at about 10:30 p.m. — and in the same manner — through email and Facebook messaging. All Access Party executive candidates were present and prepared to answer any and all questions, along with both of the IA students on their Senate slate.
The Swamp Party president and presidential candidate were also present. However, they stated that they were not prepared for this type of event, and that they would not participate unless the event’s format changed because Swamp Party was not comfortable answering the questions prepared by IA students and approved by the moderator. This issue delayed the start of the event by 30 minutes.
In an effort to accommodate Swamp’s requests, we changed the format of the event. IA Ambassadors sat on a panel to answer questions from the audience, including the SG candidates, in addition to offering potential suggestions to both parties.
We apologize to Access as this change was last minute, and it was not given a chance to properly address IA concerns. We apologize to all attendees for the disorganization of this event and the way in which it unfolded.
It is a shame that IA students in attendance were not able to address their executive candidates as they had hoped.
We encourage you to research both parties and their platforms before elections. Voting will take place Tuesday and Wednesday from 8:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. at various polling locations around campus.
I hope that every student, IA or otherwise, understands the power of his or her voice in this election.
Sincerely,
David Nassau
Ambassador – Innovation Academy
