The Minority Rights Coalition hosted a debate for Student Council, Honor Committee and University Judiciary Committee candidates 6 p.m. yesterday in Maury Hall. The discussion focused on diversity and ways these organizations could reach out to minority students.
Second-year College student Marco Segura, one of six candidates running to be a Council representative from the College, said a current lack of diversity negatively impacts Council.
"In a perfect world of 'Marco-land,' I would have presidents of different organizations emailing each other, spreading ideas and diversity," Segura said.
Second-year College student Apurva Pande, one of Segura's opponents, said Council must represent the University as a whole.
"I want to broaden communication between representatives and the entire College," Pande said. "Not everyone gets their voices and talents heard. It's my goal to change that."
Second-year College students Evan Dunks, Eric McDaniel, Owais Naeem and John Woolard are also running to be Council representatives.
In the debate for Honor Committee representatives from the College, multiple candidates said the Committee needs to encourage conversations about honor and increase efforts to educate students about the system.
Candidates also brought up spotlighting, which is when certain minorities are reported at a higher rate than the general student body. This occurs for various reasons, including that minority students may stand out more in a classroom and reporters may harbor certain biases. In the 2009-10 school year, the last term for which the Committee has published statistics, only 18 of honor's 47 cases involved Caucasian students as the alleged offender.
"We need to target the entire student body, because each student deserves a fair trial," third-year College student and Honor candidate Justin Pierce said.
Third-year College student and Honor candidate Mark Gruetzmacher said students have a "lack of understanding" of the honor system, which must be addressed.
"It kills me to see a person who makes a mistake and perpetually pays for it," Gruetzmacher said.
Third-year College students Anne Russell Gregory, Mary Kidd, Owen Gallogly, Jonathan Klaren, Justin Pierce and Lindsey Tumperi are also running to be Honor Committee representatives.
Candidates for the University Judiciary Council College representative also fielded questions about diversity and student outreach.
Third-year College student and UJC candidate Charity Harrell said face-to-face communication trumped email when it came to educating students about the school's judiciary processes.
Second-year College student and UJC candidate Jonathan Lim highlighted the importance of representation on the UJC.\n"We need to recruit from every part of the University," Lim said.
Both Lim and Harrell expressed interest in a UJC awareness week which would address misconceptions about the body's proceedings.
Also among the candidates at the debate were those running for Council president: third-year College students Mathias Wondwosen, Whit Hunter and Johnny Vroom, as well as second-year College student Ed Jenkins.
Fourth-year College student and MRC president Evan Shields helped moderate the event.
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