What the Student Association Elections Commission planned to be a formal debate between SA presidential candidates Juan McCullum and Adam Telle turned out to be a question and answer session with Telle.
McCullum decided earlier in the week not to participate in the debate. [See related story]
Increasing relations between Mississippi State’s diverse social and racial groups was one of the main issues addressed in the session. Telle also told the crowd of about 100 students and faculty that one of his main goals as president would be to expand the role of the SA’s director of campus outreach.
A number of Telle supporters and McCullum supporters attended the session. Runoff elections between Telle and McCullum will be held today in Colvard Union.
Audience members asked Telle about diversity issues twice.
“Diversity is not about bringing everybody together under one roof,” Telle said. “Diversity is about empowering leaders on this campus that are diverse. It’s about taking student organization leaders from diverse organizations and empowering them not with funding, but just support from the student association-feedback, a direct line of communication.”
Telle said leaders of diversity groups should be able to take funding and spend it on what they want.
“They know better than I do how to spend the money,” he said.
“Mississippi State University is special. It’s unique because our minorities and diverse crowds are so large that they’re able to stand on their own two feet,” Telle said. “They don’t need everybody else. We’ve got to empower them by giving them funding and open lines of communication.”
Telle said that racial diversity is not the only important issue on campus, but that socioeconomic and social diversity are important as well.
Telle also said he wants to improve the director of campus outreach’s relationship with more organizations.
“What I want to see the director of campus outreach do is not only promote the campus life calendar, but-every event posted on there-I’d like to see either the director of campus outreach or one of his committee members attend,” Telle said. “It’s one thing to go out and poll students, but you really get to see what’s going on on campus when you sit in on student organization meetings.”
Telle said the director of campus outreach should strive to give all student organizations on campus a voice.
Senior chemical engineering major Laura Wood asked Telle several questions. She said the session will definitely influence her vote, though she did not say for whom she would vote.
McCullum garnered 38 percent of the student vote last Tuesday, leading Telle, Thomas Gregory and Ro Taylor in the race for president. Telle received 37 percent of the vote, forcing a runoff between him and McCullum.
McCullum’s campaign manager told the Elections Commission Sunday that McCullum would not participate in the debate.
McCullum said the first public debate held prior to the general elections should be the debate to count.
McCullum also said he felt the debate between him and Telle might be biased because, instead of panelists asking the same questions to both candidates, they would ask questions tailored to each candidate.
Panelist Patti Reiss said that panelists’ questions would have been directed at both candidates, as per the debate’s rules.
Candidates running for secretary and attorney general also answered questions prior to Telle’s session. The secretarial, attorney general’s and class president’s races also resulted in runoffs last Tuesday. Elections for those positions will also be held today.