Student government presidential candidate Wayne Bersano debated in the middle of the night via Skype from Germany with Dylan Carpenter in front of a half full room in the University Center.
It was 3 am in Germany when the debate ended for Bersano, who is currently studying abroad.
The crowd on hand was Carpenter-heavy, with a majority of the applause going to Carpenter at the initial introductions.
Carpenter, the self-proclaimed “411,” made his physical presence felt in the room, being that he was the only candidate actually in the room. His aggressive style caused multiple stirring moments on both ends of the spectrum.
The majority of the crowd on hand consisted of an assortment of Greek life, including a sizable supporting cast from Carpenter’s own fraternity as well as other members of Student Government.
Bersano’s primary objective is to create more collaboration between student organizations, while Carpenter wants to get back to the basic principles upon which Student Government was started.
Carpenter aggressively answered in response to Bersano’s argument on the emphasis of collaboration, using less than a minute of the allotted three that he had. A joking moment caused some uncomfortable laughter within the crowd of Carpenter supporters when Carpenter told Bersano laughingly that “It’s my response time now.”
A trained debater according to Student Government President Andrew Kalinowski, Carpenter pounced when Bersano made a point about garnering more representation by seeking out the member-heavy RSO’s for collaboration, referring to the approach as “Discriminatory,” to the smaller registered student organizations.
Bersano was the Vice President of Student Government during the 2014-15 academic year, and Kalinowski’s second in command.
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