On the afternoon of Wednesday, March 26, six days before the scheduled April 1st elections for the Student Government Association Executive Council for the 2025-26 academic year, six candidates, all running for various positions on EC, gathered in the Strickland Auditorium. All six participated in a debate and town hall hosted by The Rambler, where they made their case for why they should be voted into SGA office and fielded questions from the student body. Dozens of students made their way to Strickland to hear the pitches of various candidates and ask questions, while more watched as the entire debate and town hall was streamed live on The Rambler’s Instagram. The six candidates who participated in the debate were freshman Brayden Strong, running for Chief of Finance, freshman Delta Pirkle and junior Kate Polson, each running for Chief of Staff, sophomores Lakyn Totten and Max Hankins, each running for Vice President, and junior Sean Gannon, running for his second term as SGA President.
Debate moderator Lyra Duffy opened the debate by asking each candidate what motivated them to run for their respective positions and what unique qualities they could bring to the role. A commonality for most of the first-time candidates was a desire to contribute more to campus and create greater change, citing leadership positions they had held previously both as evidence of this drive to encourage growth in their community and experience that would qualify them for SGa Executive Council. As Polson eloquently summarized, “I knew I wanted to give my time and attention to the meaningful work on campus. I found SGA to be the vehicle for that work.”
Sean Gannon emphasized that he was coming from a different position, having already served one term as SGA President. Gannon highlighted the work that SGA has done this year under his leadership, and, in a theme he would revisit multiple times throughout the debate, emphasized how he had the rare opportunity to go into next year with a year’s worth of experience in pushing the administration to respond to student concerns. As Gannon put it, “This past year has been some of the most productive work we have ever seen SGA do…with the experience I have gained, I can continue to amplify this even further.”
The debate moved along with each candidate being asked general questions ranging from serious issues, such as what the top priorities of each candidate would be, and what each candidate sees as the biggest challenge facing the student body. There were also more light-hearted questions, such as what color each candidate would choose to represent their campaign and what each candidate’s preferred SGA superhero name would be.
A through-line of many of Strong’s responses was his desire to promote and uplift all student organizations. This was the first point he went to when asked what his top priority as Chief of Finance would be, stating, “One of my main goals, along with running daily finances, is to give these clubs the opportunity to get some of this [financial support] that we offer so they can get events going on campus.” Strong cited his club-centric experience in SGA, including two projects designed to promote student organization events and opportunities to the student body.
Polson continually emphasized the need for SGA to maintain open lines of communication between SGA and the student body, echoing similar arguments by other candidates that a primary goal of SGA should be continuing to emphasize transparency. Polson stressed that, especially during current turbulent times, it is paramount that SGA provide a consistent level of support to students. Polson seeks to ensure this constant student support from SGA by pushing for engaged senatorship by members of SGA, primarily in the form of projects designed for that goal. Polson emphasized that she would “strive to be a resource for those projects.”
As their top priority, Pirkle emphasized creating personal relationships with the senators of SGA in order to facilitate a closer, more open, and more cooperative student government. As they stated, “I want to try and get to know the senators and be someone they can go to when they need help with projects…I just want to help.” Pirkle hopes that this plan of interconnectedness between senators would show dividends in SGA’s attempt to reach out and connect with the student body, touching on the theme of increased communication and transparency that was echoed by other candidates.
Totten focused on what she categorized as “a disconnect between faculty and student life,” especially when it comes to the resources and support provided to students. Totten hopes to highlight existing resources for student wellness through SGA projects and events, and ti push for increased recognition and respect for student wellness, especially mental health, among faculty and staff. Totten set this lack of mental health recognition as one of the biggest challenges facing the student body, stating, “Education is why we are all here, but at the same time, you can not pause your own life and you can not pause your own health.”
One of Hankins’ primary goals for the upcoming year is to streamline positions within SGA to divide up workload among senators so as to increase collaboration and more efficiently accomplish tasks for the student body. Hankins argued that this collaboration fits well with the small and tight-knit student community of Transy, and it increases the likelihood of students coming together to create real change. As Hankins argued, “It is easy to lose sight of the power we have as students with our smaller size. I think that, both through student government and as the individuals who keep this institution running, it is important to keep that in mind and find ways to implement what we need on campus.”
Gannon unsurprisingly, was the most explicit of all the candidates for what his goals for the upcoming year would be should he be re-elected president. He emphasized the three keys to his platform being advocacy, accessibility, and accountability. In Gannon’s eyes, advocacy is the most important of the three for himself because he sees the role of SGA President as the student body’s voice for the administration. Many of Gannon’s goals involve advocacy towards the administration, such as securing an SGA Representative on the Transylvania Board of Trustees and pushing for increased transparency and student input on Transylvania’s 2030 Master Plan. In regard to the Master Plan, Gannon stressed the importance of ensuring student involvement, stating, “What do we do when certain foundational things are not given? Yet the school is expecting more money from us, and is now making a plan to expand the university that will only cause harm to us. More importantly, they don’t even ask our opinion on the matter so they don’t know what will harm us until it already happens.”
After general questions, the debate moved into specific questions for candidates for each of the four executive council positions. Chief of Finance candidate Brayden Strong was asked what experience he has in handling and organizing funds, where he pointed to his experience working at a local independent insurance agency and at his high school’s admissions office. For Chief of Staff candidates Kate Polson and Delta Pirkle, they were asked about previous experiences working with other people and how they would handle conflict between senators. Polson pointed to leadership roles she has held in other campus organizations, such as T-Unity, Muslim Student Association, and the Writing Center, and outlined her objective, common ground-based approach to conflict management. Pirkle highlighted their previous experience as an ambassador for their high school and the number of students they interacted with in that role, and half-jokingly referred to their experience babysitting for how they would deal with senator conflicts. For Vice Presidential candidates Max Hankins and Lakyn Totten, they were asked what they believed their role working with the President would be ike and what specific initiatives they would lead to better student life. Totten emphasized the importance of clear communication between the President and Vice President, so as to set a clear example for other senators. Hankins emphasized the flexibility in the duties of the Vice President when compared to the President, highlighting his ability to support the President while serving as a point of contact for senators. Sean Gannon was asked what motivated him to pursue a second term as SGA President, circling back to the unique opportunity for continuity in pressuring the administration to properly address the needs of students.
The rest of the debate served as a town hall for students in attendance, with those in the audience posing specific questions to each of the candidates. The candidates discussed various topics, such as the importance of upholding DEI initiatives in student government and how each candidate planned to properly balance their SGA leadership obligations with their academic obligations. For specific questions, Strong was asked to address a past situation and how he had learned and changed from the experience prior to potentially taking on a public-facing leadership role, and Gannon was asked to elaborate on his relationship with the administration and how he has worked to bring issues like the 2030 Master Plan to the attention of students.
This article is just a small portion of what each candidate had to say during the debate. SGA Elections will be held on Tuesday, April 1, so be sure to watch the video below to get a full sense of the goals and priorities of each of the candidates:
