From left to right, Roaya Higazi and Caleb Hineman, Sophie Ruttenberg and Ethan Wolf, and Nicole Espinoza De Montreuil and Edward Donis Madison participated in a debate as presidential and vice presidential candidates, respectively, at Hale Hall Sunday. Credit: Max Garrison | Lantern reporter

With one day left before voting begins, candidates for Undergraduate Student Government president and vice president took the stage before more than 100 people Sunday to debate issues facing campus. 

Access, affordability and diversity were focal points for the three campaigns during the debate at Hale Hall moderated by USG’s judicial panel. This year’s race is the first for USG president and vice president with more than two teams since 2017.

Sophie Ruttenberg and Ethan Wolf, Roaya Higazi and Caleb Hineman, and Nicole Espinoza De Montreuil and Edward Donis Madison will be running for president and vice president, respectively. Voting will begin Monday at noon and end Wednesday at 11:59 p.m.

“In light of our first competitive election season in a really long time, I really want to encourage you all to be very critical of the things that are said by all the candidates,” Higazi, a third-year in city and regional planning and current vice chair of diversity and inclusion in Shared Governance as a part of USG’s Collaborative Leadership team, said.

Ruttenberg, a third-year in public management and current senator in USG’s General Assembly, said she and Wolf, a second-year in public management and a governmental relations committee representative in USG, would create about 14 outreach chairs to engage the student body, rather than ask students to come directly to them. 

“What we need to do is implement large structural change that gives us no choice but to reach out throughout the entire year,” Ruttenberg said.

USG came under scrutiny last month for failing to recognize Black History Month while holding a meeting in Hale Hall, which houses the Frank W. Hale Black Cultural Center, and lacking diversity that is representative of campus, according to previous Lantern reporting. Ruttenberg acknowledged the significance of the debate venue in her opening statement.

Higazi said she and Hineman, a third-year in natural resource management and current parliamentarian for USG’s General Assembly, are most passionate about creating financial transparency for students going through FAFSA verification — a process that requires students to submit additional documentation of financial need and puts students at risk of being dropped from classes at the beginning of the semester due to processing delays.

Higazi said she and Hineman want to provide support services through the Student Financial Aid Office and create a grace period for students who submit their documentation on time but are affected by delays.

“If you are following the rules and you’re doing what you need to do, there is no reason that you should still be dropped from your courses due to processing times,” Higazi said.

Espinoza De Montreuil, a third-year in marketing and former president of USG at Ohio State’s Newark campus, said she and Donis Madison, a second-year in science, technology and environment exploration, want to work to consolidate the different resources for low-income students into a single resource center.

This center would include the Buckeye Food Alliance, an on-campus food pantry, and a place to donate clothes, furniture and books, Espinoza De Montreuil said.

“It is time to work even harder, now more than ever, to make sure every Buckeye stays healthy and heard because united, we can make a difference at the Ohio State University,” Espinoza De Montreuil said.

Voting for the USG election opens March 2 and closes March 4.