The Rotunda was full Thursday night for the Student Body President Debate. Photo by Chris Crews

The Student Body Presidential Debate on Thursday, March 20 drew a large crowd at the Student Union.

Questions were answered by the candidates and the crowd was left with a lot to think about when deciding who to vote for in the 2014-15 election. News editor of the Niner Times Claire Dodd introduced the debate, while Sara Carson, assistant news editor of the Niner Times, moderated.

Candidate Steven Serio introduced himself first.

Serio is currently the junior class president and studying finance. When asked about the upcoming challenges of student government, he said his running mate Ruthie Schorr would like to clear up the confusion about what SGA is, get more outreach and “be more face-to-face with students.”

When asked where his responsibilities as president would end, he said more clear roles need to be established for the president and throughout the student government. Serio plans to rewrite the bylaws, put more regulations on the office of the student body president and create more accountability.

Venson Nunnaley was second to introduce himself. Nunnaley is a senior studying public health.

When asked what he thinks the biggest issue facing UNC Charlotte students today is, he said, campus involvement and campus pride. He wants to build community relations in larger places like the boardwalk.

Nunnaley believes that surrounding locations that support the Niners and where students commonly congregate would benefit school spirit greatly.

When asked how he would increase attendance to events such as football games, Nunnaley replied he would move tailgating to the [Student] Union. With a shorter walk more students will get involved.

Our smaller varsity sports teams like women’s soccer don’t get enough recognition. Nunnaley proposes that they rally support from other organizations on campus and within the community.

The third candidate is junior Omar Ramirez. He is majoring in social work and minoring in women’s and gender studies. He is also a student senator and resident advisor in Hickory Hall.

When asked what challenges he anticipates for SGA with a growing student body, he said there needs to be more student involvement in SGA. There are a lot of empty seats and some colleges are not represented at all.

“There’s no direct communication between student government and students,” said Ramirez. When asked how he would improve transparency in SGA, Omar replied that he plans to have frequent meetings with the judicial branch to enhance transparency between the three branches. Ramirez would like to hold 49er town hall meetings where the entire executive branch would be on stage and students would be invited to speak up about issues they’re concerned about.

After the presidential candidates finished, the moderator invited the three vice presidential candidates on stage and asked, “What do you believe is the role of the vice president?”

First to answer was Ruthie Schorr, Serio’s running mate. She believes the vice president should act as a “role model and an open door for anyone in the community.”

Ann Elise Pennington, Nunnaley’s running mate, sees equality between the vice president and the rest of the students. “We are just like every other student.”

Briana Cragwell is Ramirez’s running mate. “The VP should be the person going to different organizations… Spreading the platform of the president,” said Cragwell.

The voting period will start Tuesday, March 25 at 8 a.m. and close on Wednesday. To vote, visit vote.uncc.edu.

To read more about each of the candidates, see their profiles here.