The party don’t start until Lori Murphy walks in.
Ke$ha's “Tik Tok” was her response to fellow Vanderbilt Student Government presidential candidate Aysha Malik’s question during the closing of Tuesday night’s town hall debate, when Malik asked: “If you had to pick a theme song for your life, what would it be and why?”
Murphy’s running mate, Lee Pedinoff, said he rolls to the Vengaboys’ “We Like to Party.”
“It’s pretty self-explanatory,” he said.
The light-hearted tone that closed the debate, though, didn’t carry throughout the evening, as candidates tackled issues and questions from both the moderators and students sitting in The Commons Center, including VSG Chief of Staff Fabiani Duarte. It was the last formal chance to pose questions for each team before the polls open at 8 a.m. Wednesday.
The candidates covered seven topics: student life, Greek life, academics, VSG programs, housing and technology, miscellaneous policy, and leadership qualities.
The teams disagreed on a few key points, notably over different opinions on how to use the Dorebusters program, which provides discounts at area retailers when students show their Commodore Card, and Taste of Nashville, which allows students to buy food from restaurants using Meal Money or Commodore Cash.
Malik and her running mate, Theo Samets, propose extending Dorebusters to include restaurants whereas Murphy and Pedinoff want to expand the discount program to have area retailers accept Commodore Cash. Samets asked students to consider whether this was a “feasible idea,” considering the retailers would then take a double cut from the discount they offer and from the commission Vanderbilt takes when the Commodore Card is used. Murphy and Pedinoff, though, said Malik’s and Samet’s proposal would “devalue the Taste of Nashville program.”
“The reason we don't wish to pursue discounts at restaurants is because then there’d be no incentive to join Taste of Nashville,” Pedinoff said.
Malik said her and Theo’s five-point platform will keep them “focused in achieving goals,” noting their proposed downtown shuttle service would be “a service that students not only want but students need,” she said.
“Aysha and I haven’t just written up a long laundry list of ideas,” Samets said. “You can see what’s most important to us.”
Murphy stressed that hers and Pedinoff’s platform focused on what students wanted.
“When we sat down to create our platform, we brought together a lot of student leaders to help us,” Murphy said. “It’s extensive, holistic. It addresses the needs of Vanderbilt students.” She noted her plans to establish an athletic rewards program, portable card readers and improve VSG outreach.
“We’ve already brought in the student voice extensively,” Murphy said, “and we want to continue doing that.”
One of the more intense moments of the night occurred when Speaker of the House Josh Levine asked Malik why she changed her mind and decided to run for president at the end of last semester when Malik previously had considered studying abroad. Malik responded by saying she decided when she realized that leaving campus to pursue an internship in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates would involve her “leaving something I care so much about. … I wanted to give Vanderbilt the chance to have Theo and I the opportunity to be their next advocates and serve the university for the next year,” she said to applause.
Each candidate team closed out the debate stressing again why they are best fit to lead the student government.
“You’re not just electing platform points, not just electing ideas, but you’re electing people,” Murphy said. “You need to elect people that you … trust and know will represent you in the coming year. Lee and I have shown ourselves to be those people. … As vice president, I have learned better than anyone on this campus what it takes to be president. It’s a blessing and it’s a great responsibility. … At the end of the day, it’s all about you, about representing you as a student and bringing you results.”
Malik echoed with her beliefs in her and Theo’s ability to serve.
“We’re not just the experienced and the right ticket, but we’re the only ticket that can serve the needs of every student on this campus,” she said.
