Written by Payton McPhee

Thumbnail and Header Photo by SMUSA

On February 16th and 17th, SMUdents will take to the polls to vote for the upcoming SMUSA president. As President of SMUSA, the successful candidate will become the Chief Executive Officer of the Association which means they will be tasked with acting as the primary spokesperson for the student body and conduct the day-to-day operations of the association. This year, there are two candidates running for the position of President.

Our first candidate is Isobel Tyler, who is a 4th year student majoring in Criminology, Social Justice, and English. Isobel has professional experience working with SMUSA being that she was the Vice President of Student Affairs this past year, which signifies that she is aware of the commitment she is campaigning to take on. In regard to her campaign, Isobel’s platform is enticing. Hoping to implement a permanent hybrid learning model, increase International student support, expand and support student societies, and expand food accessibility on campus, Isobel’s campaign is surely promising.

Our next candidate is Aljero Knowles, who is an International student from The Bahamas. Aljero is a 3rd year Commerce student who is majoring in Marketing. Although he has no professional experience with student politics, he says that his friends and family say he is a great fit for this role. Aljero’s campaign platform is threefold: promoting mental health outreach for students, advocating for flexible learning models, and encouraging more student involvement both on and off campus. Aljero’s tagline for his campaign, “Let’s elevate, innovate, and renovate a SMUSA for all SMUdents”, is certainly in-line with his platform and is enticing for students.

On February 10th, the SMUSA Presidential Debate was held via Zoom where the two candidates were offered the opportunity to introduce themselves, showcase their platform, and highlight the qualities and skills that they bring to the table. They were asked a series of predetermined questions by the moderator, Paula Minnikin, as well as additional questions from the audience.

The debate commenced with an uplifting guest speech from the Honourable Zach Churchill, who is the MLA of Yarmouth. Churchill has devoted much of his life to politics and has found great success in doing so; however, it was eye-opening to hear that he began his political career by being elected as President for SMUSA. Churchill’s words of encouragement highlighted the importance of student politics, and the benefits that come along with the position of President, such as resiliency, networking skills, and confidence. For providing such a great guest speech, Churchill was awarded with a donation in his name to any organization of his choice; he graciously chose to donate it to the SMUSA Opportunities Bursary.

Following this guest speaker, Paula Minnikin began the question period. The candidates were given six questions prior to the debate in order to prepare their answers. The candidates were asked the following questions and their responses are below:

If you are elected, what will be the first issue that you take action on?

Isobel noted that the first issue she would take action on would be to implement a permanent hybrid learning model. Isobel is aware of the need for accessible education and she believes that this is the first step in that direction. Aljero believes that the first issue that requires action is providing more mental health resources on campus. He believes the pandemic has played a large role in students' mental health and he hopes to help this growing issue.

What are the most important challenges that SMUSA faces?

Isobel is no stranger to SMUSA being that she was an executive member this past year. She has seen issues first hand and believes that the biggest issues among SMUSA are their governing challenges where they often have vague and outdated policies. She wants to re-examine the policy approach, collect more data on what students actually want, and recognize the issues they have so that they can address them. Aljero believes that the biggest issues that are present within SMUSA are low student involvement and not being accessible to students. Aljero plans to combat this through hosting more events, being reachable to students around the clock, and providing more funding to societies.

What motivated you to run for President?

Isobel’s desire to run for President flourished from her love of being involved with the SMU community. During her time at SMU, Isobel worked as a Residence Assistant, Residence Programming Assistant, and was Chair of the Residence Events Committee. In addition, her love of her current position as Vice President of Student Affairs pushed her to run for the position of President. Aljero’s decision to run for President stemmed from encouragement from his friends, floormates, and family who all believe he is a great leader and has the skills that are necessary to be a successful President.

Being a great leader means you also have to be a great listener. Do you think that you are a great listener?

When asked about her listening skills, Isobel noted that her entire university career, as well as her campaign platform is based upon listening and having empathy. She has had lots of experience testing her listening skills and she believes that they are strong and valuable. When offered the same question, Aljero explained that his parents taught him the importance of having empathy and actively listening to others at all times. He believes that being able to accept criticism and being able to understand the concerns that are voiced to you are crucial for being a successful President.

How would you increase student involvement in an online setting?

Isobel feels confident in her ability to increase student involvement in an online environment. She has experience doing this in the past, by hosting events that were both online and in-person, and she often had to come up with back-up plans so events could still continue if restrictions were to move the events back online. Aljero believes that to increase student involvement in an online setting, we must increase our social media usage and have a daily presence across several platforms in order to make SMU more accessible to the student body.

How do you plan to address and solve the overrepresentation of men and the underrepresentation of women in positions of leadership and power?

Isobel explained that her being elected would be a step in the right direction for combating the underrepresentation of women in leadership roles. If elected, she will be the second ever female SMUSA President and she plans to commit to offering workshops, summits, and conferences that will help to foster women’s empowerment. Aljero noted that he seems himself as a feminist and wants to see women succeed in leadership roles. He believes that it is necessary to create a diverse atmosphere that fosters gender equality within the SMUSA Executive Team, as well as other leadership roles on campus. Aljero also plans to initiate women’s empowerment workshops on campus to promote this important issue.

The floor was then opened up to questions from the audience which allowed the candidates to think on their feet and answer questions that they were unable to prepare for. Some of the topics that were discussed by the candidates were SMU’s carbon footprint, sustainability, conflict management skills, and how they plan to foster Truth and Reconciliation on campus.

Don’t forget to take to the polls to vote for who you believe is the most qualified candidate to represent the SMU student body. Voting will begin on February 16th at 9:00am and the polls will close February 17th at 5:00pm. Students can place their vote by accessing the website here. Good luck to both Isobel and Aljero!

An Overview of the 2022-23 SMUSA Presidential Debate

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