HUSA and Undergraduate Trustee Candidates Get Interviewed at Hilltop Speak Out

In Blackburn Ballroom Monday evening, candidates running for HUSA as well as undergraduate trustee sat on a panel to address questions asked by The Hilltop newspaper staff including Maya Rhodan, editor in chief, Macy Freeman, chief managing editor, Christina Downs, production managing editor, Jasmin Carnelus, campus editor and Britney Wilson, opinions editor.

The various candidates began with their opening statements incorporating song titles such as "I Believe in You and Me" and "If I Ruled the World." Beginning the event was Leslie Pace, a candidate for undergraduate trustee. Pace said, "At Howard University, it should be our goal to promote awareness, connection and evolution to obtain progress on the campus of Howard University."

Following Pace, candidate Adedamola Sokoya said he plans to serve Howard through his platform titled "Starting Five" in the areas of "retention, serve the students, start a change, start the connection, start the return." The third candidate for undergraduate trustee, Marcus Carey, wants to ensure "that students and faculty at this university receive the services appropriate for a top tier university institution."

However, when asked a question by The Hilltop panel surrounding his plan to build upon the success of a donating campaign through his "text to give" campaign, Carey was challenged with giving misinformation regarding the funds raised during the implementation of a fund raising program created by former graduate trustee Marcus Ware and former undergraduate trustee Corey Briscoe. Through the text-to-give fundraising initiative, the Howard community was able to donate to the university by texting their amount to a certain number.

When asked how much money was raised, Carey stated "$150,000." Due to statements as well as records, the campaign actually raised $5,000.

When the trustee candidates were asked who they would vote for if they were unable to vote for themselves, Pace and Carey said they would vote for Adedamola Sokoya.

HUSA candidates were then presented with a series of questions that called for quick responses regarding their platforms. One new program that Brittney Foxhall and Madiagne Sarr seek to implement is a winter session, similar to that of the summer sessions. "We believe the likelihood of this happening is very likely," Foxhall said. "We have mentioned this to Dr. Griffin who already decided that they would like to take this to the board of trustees."

Sarr said with a winter session, a new opportunity for students to "knock out two or three credits" can be done, allowing them to graduate on time. However, Sarr and Foxhall were presented with a question regarding the university's deficit and how feasible and affordable will an extra session be. Sarr said the students who enroll in this session, thus allowing professors to receive pay for their services, will generate revenue. In terms of housing, work-for-housing will be installed for the winter session.

In terms of visibility, Rachel Sanni and Cameron Clarkson plan to utilize social media websites to keep abreast of student issues. "We will highlight an issue and use social media and physical petition to make contact with the students," Clarkson said. "It will be implemented as part of the executive branch and we will use direct action politics to get students needs addressed quicker and more effectively."

Brandon Dean and James Alexander were presented with a controversial question describing how much money in a stipend should student leaders receive. "The purpose for student leadership and student government is so we can make a positive difference for students," Alexander said. If elected, Dean and Alexander plan to put a cap of $5,000 on their stipends.

Alexander also stated there were times when student leaders gave themselves "$8,000, $9,000 and there are other members who work harder than they do that don't get paid at all."

The last HUSA candidates to speak were Julius Holmes and Pali Payne. The two said they plan to uphold President Sidney A. Ribeau's "Students First" campaign by implementing student led reassessments and initiatives as a means of addressing the administration and "fixing their problems today."

Candidates were then asked to list five words to describe the current HUSA administration and what they would do differently. Some of the recurring adjectives were visible, persistent and collaborative.

"We got to stop accepting things as they are, we got to stop accepting the status quo for Howard University as far as student government," said Dean with the "HUSA Anew 52" slate. "We need to make sure we are listening critically and responsive to the students," said Sanni with the "WE Are Howard" slate. On the "Believe" slate, Foxhall and Sarr plan to work on the areas of campus safety and building a better relationship with the campus police department, inclusion of underrepresented students on campus including national students, LGBT students and "making sure we are really focused on the concerns and issues of the students," Foxhall said. 

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