Print Edition of the 2023 Notre Dame Student Body Election Insider

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IN FOCUS Tuesday, February 7, 2023 | ndsmcobserver.com

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY MAGGIE KLAERS

JungRezner

OropezaMcAndrew

WilliamsBrooke

By MAGGIE EASTLAND

By GENEVIEVE COLEMAN

By BELLA LAUFENBERG

Assistant Managing Editor

Assistant Managing Editor

Notre Dame News Editor

Notre Dame students might recognize Daniel Jung and Aidan Rezner from the student government Instagram page, but the two sophomores are ready to take the next big step to represent the student body.

Both current sub-directors of communications for the executive cabinet, Jung and Rezner are running for student body president and vice president on a platform they champion as achievable and responsive to student needs.

“At the core, we understand the needs of the students,” Jung said. “We may not be the most wellversed in the Senate, but we hear what students want. We really have been trying to implement that into our policies that are improving quality of life, but also not overly ambitious.”

The Jung-Rezner platform categorizes its policies into three key areas: student life which includes health and enrichment, enhancement of both the campus as well as community and issues concerning diversity and inclusion.

Sophomores Pablo Oropeza and Griffin McAndrew are seeking to build stronger connections between the student body and student government if elected student body president and vice president, respectively.

The pair is one of three tickets running for Notre Dame student government president and vice president in the 2023 election cycle.

Oropeza is a political science and sociolog y double major. He currently serves as the vice president of Stanford Hall, a member of Hall Presidents Council (HPC) and a leader of the Irish for Inclusion initiative.

McAndrew is a political science and French double major. On campus, he is the Knott Hall senator and presides on the constitution and health and wellness committees.

W hen asked about his work as Stanford vice president, Oropeza spoke on his positive experiences with hall leadership in Stanford as

Derick Williams and Hunter Brooke, t wo sophomore students campaigning to be Notre Dame’s next student body president and v ice president, respectively, plan to “get sh*t done.”

Currently, the pair are both student senators for their dorms; Williams for Keough Hall and Brooke for Carroll Hall. Additionally, Williams is a chemical engineering major and French minor, and Brooke studies marketing and political science. In addition to being a senator, Brooke also ser ves on the committee on the constitution.

Both Williams and Brooke hold leadership positions outside of student government — Williams is on the engineering leadership council and Brooke is a part of the French club and works for South Dining Hall as a student manager for safet y and sustainabilit y.

Their campaign slogan, “Real ideas, real

see JUNG PAGE 2

see OROPEZA PAGE 2

see WILLIAMS PAGE 3

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Jung Continued from page 1

Under student life improvements, the duo plan to initiate “Fresh Fruit Fridays” at the dining halls, provide an online place for students to self-schedule UCC appointments and host a fine arts week.

When it comes to enhancing campus and community, JungRezner wants to partner with Uber or Lyft to deliver affordable travel options for students, create a “Let’s Make it Happen” form for students to pitch their own event ideas and publicize a database detailing local volunteer opportunities.

To advance diversity and inclusion, the ticket wants to institute a Title IX continuity policy between academic years, bring a variety of diverse speakers to campus for the “StandUp Speaker” series and offer first-year first generation, low income students a tailored advising experience.

Across all their initiatives, the ticket hopes one message rings clear.

“The number one word in our slogan is Listen,” said Rezner.

“That’s the foundation of this entire campaign,” Jung added.

Communications Perspective Current hosts of the “StuGov Scoop” and Instagram reel creators, Jung-Rezner emphasized their strength in communication and listening to students.

Rezner said the ticket’s perspective as communications sub-directors, rather than senators, gives them an edge over the competing tickets.

“That gives us a big advantage, because we get to see how the initiatives are implemented in the student body,” Jung said.

“We’re in charge of disseminating all of the initiatives and receiving feedback about how the initiatives are being received by the students, so we get to hear from the students a lot.”

Oropeza Continued from page 1

a first-year and noted his desire to continue helping other students find their communit y at the Universit y.

“It’s a way to help freshmen find a home at Notre Dame,” he said.

Griffin added that of all of the candidates, he and Orpeza have “the broadest range of experience” from their work on senate and HPC. “We bring the most to the table,” he continued.

W hen discussing the feasibilit y of some of the ticket’s goals, Oropeza noted the importance of advocating for progress, even if it takes more than one administration to achieve goals. “[We want to] push the needle. It might not

If elected, Jung-Rezner plans to take an active role in communicating with students.

“Multimedia is kind of our thing,” Rezner added. “We believe an organization works best with great relationships… and when hearing great perspectives.”

“We want to go beyond just acknowledging it. We really want to celebrate and that’s a big, big part of it,” Rezner added, discussing plans to bring an Indigenous person to campus to speak on local issues.

“We want to make sure that every voice and every person feels loved and respected at this University,” Rezner said.

Jung-Rezner say they have designed their platform to prioritize diversity and inclusion, partly because of their backgrounds.

“We fully understand we are white straight males. We just want to put that out there. We fully understand that, and we know that our perspective is

not the perspective of the entire student body,” Jung said.

“It starts with building a good cabinet, but then it also starts with the initiatives that we have outlined. We know we have to make this such a priority. One of our three main pillars of our campaign is diversity and inclusion.”

Policies under this pillar include, the “Stand-up Speaker” series, expanding the Race and Resilience Initiative, advocating for ASL accessibility, creating resources to help LGBTQ+ students feel safer abroad and improving the Title IX process.

In addition, the proposed “Let’s Make it Happen” form is designed to foster a line of communication between student government and students from diverse backgrounds, Jung said.

“I love Notre Dame, and Aidan loves Notre Dame, and we want everyone on this campus to feel comfortable and with who they are and love Notre Dame all the same,” Jung said.

The platform also mentions understanding the needs of students who are not Catholic by expanding and raising awareness for the Interfaith Council.

Jung and Rezner said they are both Catholic and understand that Notre Dame will likely not bring other faith services on-campus.

“We can’t bring the places of worship on to campus, but what we can do is allow paid transportation to the places offcampus and have people know that there are a lot of places off-campus that they can visit,” Rezner said.

Many of the ticket’s initiatives regarding diversity and inclusion, including Indigenous Peoples Day, focus on celebration.

“I think if you find a way to celebrate different cultures and find ways to celebrate the indigenous culture here on campus, it can do wonders for the community,” Jung said.

Recalling backlash over Saint Mary’s students entering the lottery for Wisconsin football tickets in 2021, Jung said, “That type of mentality can’t exist on this campus. It has to be that we are one tri-campus community. Their needs are our needs.

Their pains are our pains. What they celebrate, we celebrate. We just have to be more unified as a group moving forward.”

“Unfortunately, there’s a little bit of a rhetoric at this University that we’re not a tricampus and that Notre Dame is the pinnacle, and then there are two other universities that are next to it. And I don’t think that that is correct,” Rezner said, seconding Jung’s sentiment.

The candidates want to remedy this rift by meeting with Saint Mary’s and Holy Cross leaders and ensuring that all students of the tri-campus feel welcome to attend student government events.

Specifically, Jung-Rezner mentioned including both the women of Saint Mary’s and the men of Holy Cross in their planned celebration of Women’s History Month.

“I think it’s a shame that it’s not already happening,” Jung said. “We don’t acknowledge Women’s History Month in student government at all.”

The ticket hopes to host a service-oriented week celebrating women and highlighting the accomplishments of female faculty.

In another initiative, the candidates said they would work to make Title IX policy more transparent by publicizing how

happen in our term [but] it w ill help others in the future,” Oropeza said.

W hen planning to work w ith student publications, Oropeza explained wanting the student body to know what he and McAndrew are doing in their term, whether it be positive or negative.

“I’m not going to shy away from people. Sometimes I mess up and sometimes I do good things, but I ow n it either way,” Oropeza said. “People should know what the president and v ice president are doing.”

In addition, Oropeza noted the importance of beginning conversations w ith Saint Mar y’s and Holy Cross Student Government Association leaders.

“It’s as simple as getting lunch or dinner and seeing how we can connect,”

Oropeza said.

W hen asked to elaborate on their plans for being more counselors of diverse backgrounds to the UCC, McAndrew emphasized student government’s role in advocating for students.

“We are student government. We can’t force Notre Dame to make any changes but we can make sure admin knows the student body wants this,” McAndrew said.

Oropeza drew on his ow n experiences as a member of the LGBTQ+ communit y when outlining the significance of advocating for changes in the Universit y non-discrimination clause, including in dorms.

“If you’re a gay person, you don’t know if you’re going to find a home here,” he said. “[It would be] a small step for Notre Dame.”

Oropeza also described being a first-generation student and the need to create more resources for others like him.

“It takes a lot to get here,” Oropeza said. “I didn’t have the resources to find opportunities after college.”

In response to plans mentioned in the ticket’s plans to partner w ith Right to Life, McAndrew stated the ticket w ill still partner w ith other organizations on campus, including more global health clubs.

“Abortion is a contentious topic. We plan to continue partnerships w ith clubs on campus,” he said.

“Advocating for a political agenda does not mean a club should not be heard.”

Oropeza addressed the significance of the “disconnect” bet ween hall government and the student government executive cabinet to explain

Student Life: Campus Dining Perspective One of the ticket’s “ambitious yet achievable goals,” as Rezner describes, is Campus Dining improvements.

Jung added that past administrations have met friction and flex point caps when working with campus dining, but their initiatives are designed to circumvent these obstacles.

“We’re trying to find workarounds,” Rezner said, explaining the platform’s plan to offer fresh fruit in the dining halls every Friday and create more equitable meal options in the grab-n-go.

“We want to really, really bring some more healthy options. We want to bring some more nutritious options, and we want it to be equitable to the $17.50 that we’re actually paying,” he said about the grab-n-go.

“We really do believe that the students deserve fresh, nutritious fruit at least once a week,” Jung said. “Students fundamentally need healthy fruits and vegetables, and they deserve it.”

In addition to dining adjustments, the ticket references supplemental digital student IDs, spotlighting student creatives and reallocating leftover executive funding to clubs.

Diversity and Inclusion

Tri-campus and Title IX

it works to the first-year class during Welcome Weekend and pressuring the University to release more details about what goes on in Title IX hearings.

“We want to make the resources available and accessible and easy to learn,” Rezner said. “The only document out there is the Title IX document, which has about 100 pages, and unfortunately, for a lot of students, it’s just not digestible.”

One specific goal highlighted in their campaigning is to create a Title IX continuation policy. Currently, students who file for a non-legally binding issue, such as stalking, lose all accommodations or rulings at the end of the campus year, Rezner said.

“So when they come back to campus and they say, ‘I’m still feeling unsafe,’ they have to refile,” he added, describing how in many instances, the second filing is rejected or takes a long time to process. If elected, JungRezner plans to expedite the filing process between academic years.

This initiative, along with many others, will rely on building relationships and allow for continuity between semesters for students.

“That’s how we’re going to advance any initiative is creating positive relationships and working environments,” Rezner said. “And I think we have good experience doing that in our previous history.”

To accomplish their goals, the ticket ultimately leans into their communications experience and a desire for transparency.

“We want to be a very transparent administration if we were to win,” Jung said. “We aren’t perfect and we recognize that, but we are going to be so open about it when we mess up. We’re going to apologize.

We really want to be the most transparent administration to date.”

Contact Maggie Eastland at meastlan@nd.edu

the ticket’s dorm-w ide and communit y-w ide initiatives.

“It’s not one or the other,” he said. “We can do t wo things at once.”

To this end, McAndrew described the importance of getting clubs the funding resources they need.

“Clubs are being neglected in favor of student government groups,” he said. “Student government does not mean the most in the day-to-day lives of students.”

Looking outside of Notre Dame, Oropeza stated the ticket wanted to host more fundraising events to support South Bend causes.

“We want students to see how beautiful South Bend is,” Oropeza said.

Contact Genevieve Coleman at gcoleman01@saintmarys.edu

IN FOCUS

Williams Continued from page 1

cha nge,” embodies t he pa ir’s plat form of bold goa ls a nd complete tra nspa rency. The t wo a lso emphasi zed t heir connections w it h administ rat ion a nd t heir prev ious student government ex perience in a n inter v iew w it h The Obser ver.

“I t hin k one t hing t hat Hunter a nd I rea lly bring to t he table is ex perience a nd being able to work w it h student senators,” Willia ms noted. “[Ca mpa ig ning] is rea lly excit ing a nd it’s rea lly g row n my passion, t he more t hat I’ve gotten able to ta lk to people.”

In t heir plat form — which is 18 pages long a nd conta ins 98 “key points” in t heir A BC’s: adva ncing t he student ex perience, boost ca mpus g roups a nd activ ities a nd cha nge t he course of student government — Willia ms a nd Brooke out line t heir ex tensive pla ns for how t hey wou ld lead Not re Da me’s student body.

“Not re Da me is g reat.

Now, let’s roll up our sleeves a nd ma ke it even better,” t he plat form says. “Key indicators cont inue to show t hat much work must be under ta ken to ma ke us a ll happier, sa fer a nd hea lt hier.

The trick in t hese cases is to present (a nd, importa ntly, to sincerely implement) rea l, feasible solutions t hat w ill genuinely a llev iate issues, rat her t ha n leave us worse of f.”

Some ideas in t he “student ex perience” por t ion include increasing f lex points/ cha ng ing mea l pla ns, opening St. Joe’s beach in wa rm mont hs, g ua ra nteeing Gateway/t ra nsfer housing, lowering/subsidi zing tex tbook costs, of fering cheaper summer classes, suppor ting student demonstrat ions, of fering f ree self-defensecourses,sustainabilit y ef for ts a round ca mpus, work ing w it h Access-A BLE to solve accessibilit y issues

Debate Continued from page 4

concerns about student union funding and political polarization were brought up. Rezner said that his ticket would make it a priorit y to segment student union funds properly at the start of its term.

“For example, the communications department is a little under budget, and some of that money could be used to go to the clubs in the CCC that genuinely need them because ultimately, that money goes to you,” Rezner said addressing the students. “You guys are

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ndsmcobserver.com | tuesday, february 7, 2023 | The Observer

a nd advocating for sig n la ng uage inter preters at masses.

Willia ms-Brooke’s pla n to “bolster ca mpus g roups a nd activ ities” sta r ts w it h prov iding a id to improv ing residence ha ll g y ms, building solid inf rast r ucture for better club f ina nces (including SAO updates) a nd helping to prov ide student organizers w it h easier log ist ics a nd f unding to put on events.

Overa ll, t he t icket a ims to “work w it h our fellow students to understa nd t he t hings you ca re about a nd wou ld like to see f i xed — so t hat we’re pursuing problems t hat actua lly plag ue t he student body, rat her t ha n t hings a sma ll g roup of people t hin k ought to cha nge,” t he plat form says.

involved in, because we t hin k a lot of people who have unfor tunately had to go t hrough [Tit le I X] have found t hat it’s not t ra nspa rent, ver y conf using, unreliable, ca n ta ke ages a nd t here a re t imes where you’re just lef t k ind of wondering what is going on,” Brooke sa id.

Fiscal responsibilit y Willia ms-Brooke told The Obser ver about t heir pla n to establish f isca l responsibilit y in t heir cabinet by being t ra nspa rent a nd specif ic on what t heir budget w ill look like.

“We wa nt to init iate cha nges, a nd we t hin k t he status [of club f unding] is poor,” Brooke sa id. “I t hin k Derick wou ld ag ree t hat student money shou ld be used in ways students ca re about a nd f rom what we’ve seen, a nd f rom our ex periences, students ca re most ly about dorms a nd clubs.”

They out lined specif ic goa ls such as shrin k ing execut ive cabinet “pleasa nt r y” budgets, gett ing rid of unnecessa r y student government collaborat ion f unds a nd rolling over lef tover money direct ly to student g roups.

Willia ms a lso noted t hat he was a pa rt of t he f irstgeneration, low-income (FGLI) communit y, while Brooke is an internat iona l student f rom Pa ris, Fra nce.

W hen asked about t heir pla ns for t he tri-ca mpus communit y, Willia msBrooke sa id t hey pla nned to sit dow n w it h administrators a nd students at Sa int Ma r y’s a nd Holy Cross to f ind ways to collaborate. They noted goa ls of sha red prog ra mming such as brot her a nd sister dorms across ca mpuses a nd creat ing a “cu ltura l shif t” w it h a n integ rated, common communit y.

Student relationship

media

In a n inter v iew w it h The Obser ver, Willia ms commented on how t heir tea m wou ld hope to push t he Universit y to publish sex ua l assau lt data a nd noted t he need for more conversat ions w it h sur v ivors. Brooke a lso spoke about a persona l connection to Tit le I X a nd how he worries for his f riends at Notre Da me. “[The Universit y] is a n uncomfortable env ironment, at times, for t he sur v ivors of sex ua l assau lt. A nd so, we do wa nt to f ind ways to support t hem,” Willia ms sa id.

“In a per fect world, what we’d like to see is hav ing t he conversat ion gets somet hing going, gets t he wheels turning on a w ide ra nge of issues.”

The ticket a lso out lined pla ns to develop a “sex ua l assau lt peer advocates” prog ra m where t hey hope to match students w it h ot hers who have been t hrough t he Tit le IX process prev iously.

“Our goa l is to f ind t he best people we ca n, a nd I t hin k t hat t his is somet hing t hat a lot of people who a re fa milia r w it h t he process wou ld wa nt to be

As t wo ma le students, The Obser ver asked how Williams a nd Brooke pla nned to represent t he ent ire student body. In response, t hey ex pla ined t hat t hey wa nt to sta rt w it h building a n “incredible execut ive cabinet of diverse people.”

“One commit ment to t hat we wa nt to ma ke is t hat when we go a nd meet w it h administ rat ion is bring ing a long students w it h us,” t hey added.

A not her goa l t hey highlighted was including more diverse voices in t he Ca mpus Life Council (CLC), saying, “We t hin k t hat’s a g reat way to rea lly push t hose voices a nd elevate t hem so t hat t hey a re hea rd by admin.”

In a n inter v iew w it h The Obser ver, Willia ms a nd Brooke stated t hat t hey hope t heir relationship w it h student media is “strong a nd positive.”

“I wou ld like to see a ver y st rong relationship w it h student media. That’s why we’d like to tr y a nd establish or re-establish t he role of t he press secreta r y to rea lly st rea m line t he communicat ion process w it h student media a nd ma ke sure t hat t here is one person who you a ll ca n go to if you have a ny quest ion on a ny t hing at a ll,” Brooke sa id.

He continued by say ing t hat t heir administration w ill still be “completely receptive” to communicat ions a nd ta lk ing about bot h positive a nd negative outcomes of t heir proposed goa ls.

“There’s a disconnect bet ween students in t he student body, a nd I t hin k t hat student media like [The Obser ver] is a g reat way to bridge t hat gap,” t he pa ir noted. “We have to be w illing to sha re t he good a nd t he bad, as well. A nd I t hin k t hat’s t he unfortunate nature of student government is t hat [t hey] loves to ta lk to student media when t hey have rea lly good t hings, but when t hey

the clubs. You guys are the students who are in the clubs who are going to see the benefit from that.”

The final general question of the night had to do w ith how the tickets would exemplif y ethical leadership in the student union.

Oropeza spoke about student government’s stereot y pe as an “elite club.” Rezner said that a “huge part” of ethical leadership is receiv ing feedback directly from students to know when policies are not working.

Williams thought that building up a “strong

student government” w ith cabinet members who work well alongside each other would aid in keeping his ticket accountable.

Finally, the three presidents were asked how they would “effectively utilize” executive cabinet departments and campus-w ide council to remedy campus life issues.

Jung reiterated his ticket’s position about fostering open communication bet ween students and the executive cabinet, while Williams said he’d appoint passionate people like himself w illing to put in the “countless hours.” Oropeza added

he would prioritize making his executive cabinet an accurate representation of the Notre Dame communit y.

“I want my executive cabinet to look like Notre Dame,” Oropeza said. “I want it to feel like Notre Dame.”

During the final statements of the evening, Williams repeated his team’s w illingness to “roll up our sleeves” and “use our w illpower” to boost campus groups and dorms.

Rezner stated how his campaign’s motto, “Listen, grow and f lourish,” applies to student resources.

Before the debate broke off, Oropeza took the

Title IX issues initiatives

and

Inclusion, diversit y and tri-campus goals

meet roadblocks, t hey shut of f f rom student media, t hey don’t wa nt to ta lk about it.”

Brooke’s acquittal

senate

A bill of impeachment was brought aga inst Brooke at t he end of t he fa ll 2022 semester for a lleged ly v iolating t he Constitution for advertising a “senatoria l a ide” position at t he beg inning of t he 2023-24 academic yea r. It was a lleged he did not receive permission f rom FUEL’s coleaders before of fering t he position.

Ultimately, t he student senate chose not vote to impeach Brooke. Addressing Brooke’s prev ious public acquitta l, t he pa ir stated t hat t hey a re committed to f u ll tra nspa rency, communication w it h t he student body a nd g row ing f rom t heir shortcomings.

“First ly, t he whole impeachment t hing was absolutely not one of my proudest moments, a nd it was def initely a dif f icu lt time for me a nd somet hing t hat I wa nt to avoid in f uture. I t hin k it taught me a lot about being as proactive as possible a nd communication,” Brooke told The Obser ver. “My intentions t hroughout were genuine, but you k now, I t hin k execution def initely cou ld have been better.”

Willia ms showed support for his r unning mate.

“I’m glad t hat I’ve supported Hunter t hrough t his process, most ly because I t hin k it’s a n a ma zing g row t h opportunit y for him… At t he end of t he day, t he buck stops at us to keep each ot her accountable,” he sa id. “W hat I rea lly enjoy about work ing w it h Hunter is t hat ever y step of t his way, we’ve been able to help ma ke ourselves a litt le bit better because we’ve helped each ot her t hrough it a ll.”

Contact Bella Laufenberg at ilaufenb@nd.edu

opportunit y to bring up ethical leadership a second time, seemingly referring to the impeachment proceedings last semester against Brooke.

“We promise to follow the rules and not go for impeachment like some others,” Oropeza said.

Election day is Wednesday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

An email from Judicial Council on 8 a.m.

Wednesday w ill contain a link to NDCentral where students are able to log in to vote.

Contact Peter Breen at pbreen2@nd.edu

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The observer | tuesday, february 7, 2023 | ndsmcobserver.com

The Observer endorses Jung-Rezner Notre Dame students have three tickets on the ballot for the student body president and vice president election Wednesday: Daniel Jung and Aidan Rezner; Pablo Oropeza and Griffin McAndrew; and Derick Williams and Hunter Brooke. All six candidates are sophomores.

This year’s decision was difficult, but after engaging in lengthy conversations about the pros and cons of each ticket, The Observer Editorial Board endorses Jung-Rezner because of their focus on ambitious but achievable goals.

Jung and Rezner have less student government experience than their two counterparts, but we appreciate their background in communications along with their realistic understanding of what a presidential ticket can achieve in a year. Still, this inexperience is concerning in regard to a lack of contacts with University administration, but we believe once in office, the pair can effectively foster the right relationships to improve the student experience by working with previous student leaders to bridge the gap.

A key priority for Jung-Rezner is enhancing and improving our campus’ understanding of the complexities of Title IX, beginning with the implementation of Title IX information sessions in Welcome Weekend programming. Another specific goal of their platform is instituting a continuation policy for Title IX cases spanning multiple academic years, a process that is currently slow and difficult for students. In addition to their Title IX policies, their ideas for improving social media accessibility and pushing for an ASL program of study are refreshing.

The Jung-Rezner ticket also provided some practical changes that can immediately benefit students, such as a mobile ID option. In addition, they pitched a series of initiatives to improve student health and wellbeing, including improving availability at the UCC through adding the ability to self-schedule appointments. Jung-Rezner’s priority to subsidize ride-share services, like many

of Notre Dame’s peer institutions already do, is promising to promote a safer social environment for students.

The ticket of Oropeza, Stanford Hall vice president, and McAndrew, Knott Hall senator, put forth a strong platform with an emphasis on “helping people find a home at Notre Dame.” This works hand-in-hand with many of their platform’s diversity and inclusion efforts. Another main goal of the ticket was to bridge the gap between the Hall President’s Council and student government — a concept we found commendable.

In addition, the two noted they held a “legacy” view of their roles, with the goal of fighting for their values no matter what, even if they couldn’t get everything done in a one-year term. W hile this shows an awareness of where the University currently stands on more contentious social issues, some drawbacks arose for the Board.

The Oropreza-McAndrew ticket could best be described as the most ambitious with what they hope to achieve with their inclusion efforts. W hile we found these values to be laudable, the Board did not feel that this ticket presented satisfactory, concrete plans for these larger goals. W hen faced with questions regarding their sexual health initiatives, the ticket did not provide a developed response, making their stance seem more like raising awareness than advocating for specific policy. They also did not provide specific answers to questions regarding other platform initiatives such as supporting South Bend charities or how they would enhance relationships within the tri-campus.

The Williams-Brooke ticket featured the most practical student government experience, with both candidates currently serving as senators.

They knew about the finances of student government, particularly how much money goes toward club funding. They provided realistic ideas about SAO reform, and their connections with Campus Dining also helped provide some realism to loftier goals of enhancing the dining experience with

smoothie stations at the dining halls and clearly labeling prices at the Huddle.

That being said, Williams-Brooke’s idea for brother-sister dorms between Notre Dame and Saint Mary’s concerned members of our Board who are students at the latter school. W hile we were pleased that this ticket brought up tri-campus relations in their platform — the only ticket to do so — we believe plans involving Saint Mary’s or Holy Cross student life would best be developed after conversations with students at those two campuses.

Beyond that, an overarching concern with the Williams-Brooke platform was their presentation of themselves as an ambitious ticket willing to take a lot of risks, particularly with their plans to potentially publicize sexual assault data and develop a peer advocate program. Similar to Oropeza-McAndrew, we felt this ticket had not fully thought through the obstacles or consequences that come with a high-reaching platform. We also worried they could be impulsive.

However, our endorsement of Jung-Rezner does not come without reservations. Their response to improving tri-campus relations displayed they had not considered the concept with much depth, and as a tri-campus newspaper, we believe whichever ticket wins the election should prioritize strengthening the tri-campus community. Additionally, out of all three tickets, Jung-Rezner brings the least diverse personal perspective to their platform, and we encourage them to listen to students that often feel underrepresented on our campus.

Our decision to endorse Jung-Rezner was not made lightly, but overarching concerns regarding the realism and follow-through of the other two tickets outweighed our concerns with JungRezner’s inexperience.

W hile we bring a majority endorsement to the table, we encourage students to weigh the pros and cons of each ticket for themselves and make their own informed decision Wednesday.

Student body tickets debate prior to election

By PETER BREEN News Writer

In a t wo-hour debate before a live audience in Duncan Student Center Sunday evening, the three tickets up for Wednesday’s student body president and v ice president election fielded a catalog of questions from Judicial Council president Madison Nemeth and v ice president for elections Kor y n Isa, who ser ved as moderators.

Contenders were allowed four minutes to deliver opening and closing statements.

During the debating portion, each ticket had two minutes to respond to 14 studentsubmitted general questions and one president-specific and v ice president-specific question.

Student body president candidate Daniel Jung and his running mate, Aidan Rezner, got the ball rolling by supply ing their campaign rationale.

“It really started this past fall when we decided kind of on a whim to apply for the communications

department [of student government],” Rezner said.

Rezner recalled the pair’s first assignment in the communications department: asking undergraduates what they knew about student government. Rezner said he was shocked about how little students actually knew. Jung then outlined their goal to bridge the information gap between student government and the student body.

“We want to listen to you,” Jung said. “We want to ser ve your needs. Your concerns are our concerns. That’s going to be something that’s going to be really important for us… if we are elected in our administration.”

Next, presidential candidate Pablo Oropeza, current v ice president of Stanford Hall, delivered his ticket’s opening statement next while draw ing upon his ow n experience finding a home w ithin Stanford’s communit y.

“W hat has driven me these last few years I’ve been here is a want to help all others find their place there at this

universit y and find what makes this place home for them,” Oropeza said. “And that’s why we want to run.”

Derick Williams, the last of the three presidential candidates to speak, rose to his feet to address the crowd in Midfield Commons.

“We’re going to hear a lot of talking tonight, so I promise I’ll keep it brief, I’ll keep it fun and I’ll keep the light,” Williams said. “That’s kind of Hunter [Brooke] and I’s st yle up here.”

In the first general question of the evening, candidates were asked how they would ensure all Notre Dame students have a great college experience. Oropeza placed the emphasis on allocating more funding to dorms for amenities, while Williams mentioned finding ways to cut out waste w ithin the executive cabinet and student government as a whole, which has an annual budget just shy of a million dollars. Rezner sw itched gears — proposing a fine arts week and leaning into the Universit y’s ser v ice

mission.

“I have never seen another universit y that has a mission statement that wants ever yone and all people to be a force for good in the world,” Rezner said. “And I think that’s something that is really, really special to us, and we want to make sure that ever y student has ever y opportunit y to make the most of their passions, their goals and their dreams.”

The next general question asked for the competitors’ t wo highest priorities.

Jung stressed his campaign’s hope to increase transparency regarding Universit y Title IX policies and procedures.

Williams, calling upon the background of his v ice presidential choice Brooke, who works for South Dining Hall, accentuated his campaign promise to improve food qualit y. Oropeza clarified his plan to amend the Universit y’s nondiscrimination clause.

“W hat is unique to our platform is the advocacy for the amendment of the Universit y’s notice of

nondiscrimination to include sexual orientation, gender identit y and religious affiliation,” Oropeza said.

“We feel like these groups should and need to be added in order to foster a communit y that is accessible and lov ing and accepting of all rights.”

Jung cited the “StuGov Scoop” on Instagram, a creation of his and Rezner’s in the communications department, as ev idence the Jung-Rezner ticket could effectively listen to constituent feedback. Oropeza’s running mate, Griffin McAndrew, a senator from Knott Hall, pointed to his platform’s broad leadership experience: both inside the student senate and out in residence halls. Brooke deferred to his ticket’s bilateral student senate experience, div ing into how conversations w ith fellow students around campus help keep themselves as elected officials accountable.

Later in the questioning, see DEBATE PAGE 3