The Technique hosted its annual Undergraduate Student Government Association (SGA) debate this Tuesday, Feb. 25 where three tickets for President and Executive Vice President defended their platforms: Hunter Richardson and Noah Pastula, fourth-year CS/BA and third-year ME, Dhruv Kulkarni and Kyra Stillwagon, fourth-year LMC and fourth-year PUBP, and Sultan Ziyad and Xiomara Salinas, third-year CE and second-year ChemE.
Sanika Tank, third-year LMC and News Editor of the Technique, moderated the debate. She gave each ticket two minutes to give opening and closing remarks and to respond to each moderator question. Then, each ticket had one minute to answer an audience question. The topics covered the candidates’ plans of action regarding the Institute’s recent Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) language changes, enrollment growth, housing and infrastructure.
Opening Statements
Richardson and Pastula opened by highlighting their extensive SGA experience, a combined seven years. As the current Vice President of Academic Affairs, Richardson highlighted his experience advocating for greater access to student resources and civic engagement. Pastula outlined the ticket’s goal of increasing representation for students in Tech departments that serve them.
Kulkarni said, “Last week, we didn’t even think we were going to run, but then we realized that we had a lot of things on campus that we cared a whole lot about.” The two emphasized that despite their lack of experience within SGA, their tenure as Registered Student Organization (RSO) leaders has equipped them to lead, and they emphasized their commitment to serving the student body with transparency.
Ziyad began by outlining DRIVE, the center of the ticket’s platform. It stands for “develop SGA to champion change, respond to students swiftly, improve service to student organizations, voice student views to faculty and establish SGA’s standard of excellence.” He encouraged students to judge leaders by their “measurable impact on students” and by their “character and commitment to serving others.”
Biggest problem facing students today
Richardson, along with the other tickets, wanted to start by “addressing the reason why a lot of people are in this room.” Immediately before the debate, Dr. Luoluo Hong, Tech’s Vice President of Student Engagement and Wellbeing, held a town hall with student leaders where she discussed restructuring of resources for minority students due to changing federal and state policy around DEI.
Richardson affirmed his and Pastula’s commitment to surrounding themselves with a diverse cabinet and to uplifting student voices on the matter. He also acknowledged Tech’s rapid increases in enrollment as a big issue. He says he will work with the administration to enact changes in “incremental steps” that will serve students. Pastula says that to achieve this, they will incorporate more students and RSOs into the SGA framework.
Stillwagon cited a lack of SGA support for student initiatives and organizations as a larger problem that students face. She wants to make sure that RSOs are “not just part of the conversation, but the main point of the conversation” and that SGA supports students without allowing them to “lose ownership of their organization.”
Ziyad noted that the uncertainty of future administrative changes related to DEI produces uncertainty for students about the future of the Institute’s culture. He says that since SGA receives information from administrators before most students, they can communicate changes more often, in a “digestible but thorough” format. Salinas also emphasized that student needs require more representation, starting with physical needs like better infrastructure, academic needs and a need for belonging and wellbeing.
Maintaining transparency while navigating DEI policy changes
In circling back to this topic, Richardson promised to meet minority students where they are to get direct feedback from affected communities, and he also wants to bring back SGA town halls during this period of change.
“Hunter and I have been in some of the most public-facing conversations with students and the most private-facing conversations with administration. We have the connections that we need to advocate for you,” Pastula said.
Kulkarni wants to use the ticket’s platform to highlight and reinforce RSOs that have provided a community for the same student groups who use the resource centers that may see changes. He said that if SGA and the administration supported and communicated with these organizations more, they could better represent them. Stillwagon encouraged students to use their voices to go to the Capitol and share their opinions on the state legislature concerning DEI.
Ziyad brought up his personal experiences with OMED and Black Culture, Innovation and Technology (BCIT). He promised to do everything in his power to preserve these programs. He and Salinas also say they want to continue the open forums for Under-Represented Groups in Education (U.R.G.E) that started last year.
Helping students navigate on and off-campus housing challenges
Richardson was honest with the crowd, telling students that SGA has already explored subsidizing off-campus student housing, but it is not legally feasible. Pastula says they want to “promise [students] things they can do,” which involves expanding Tech’s housing resources to include residents on and off campus. One specific goal the ticket mentioned was to transform the Resident Assistant (RA) curriculum to help students through the process of finding a place to live on or near campus.
Kulkarni also acknowledged that “SGA cannot magically solve the housing crisis,” but they can effectively voice issues that residents face with their housing. Stillwagon empathized with students, saying that “what we have right now is insufficient.” She discussed her experience with untreated cockroach infestations and mold in her campus apartment and difficulties securing off-campus housing.
Xiomara highlighted that new housing and infrastructure developments are in the works, like the Curran St. Residence coming in 2026. Like the other tickets, they highlighted the need to help students transition to off-campus housing and voice their concerns regarding on-campus housing issues to the administration.
Audience Questions
When asked how they will balance progress with complacency given their extensive SGA experience, Richardson said that no matter what, “[Our cabinet] collectively presents a united front of the student body.” He also said that they will make notes of room for improvement based on past administrations.
In contrast, students asked Kulkarni’s ticket about obstacles they might face due to their lack of SGA experience, what RSOs they were involved in, and why they currently feel unrepresented by SGA. They have both been a part of DramaTech, and Stillwagon mentioned that she held leadership positions in Clarkston Futures and Students Organized for Sustainability.
“What we can do is trust the people under us to make smart decisions that follow our vision … about sustainability, accessibility and community,” Kulkarni said.
The last question probed Ziyad and Salinas on their specific plan to fund international students’ healthcare with SGA money. They want to reorganize the SGA funding endowment’s legislative reserves to create a funding pool to subsidize international students’ $1400 healthcare fee.
Closing Statements
All candidates thanked the audience for attending and encouraged them to vote, citing that last year’s election turnout represented only 11% of the student body. Pastula reiterated that his and Hunter’s actions within SGA have reflected their commitment to representing students and have fueled the 100 goals they outlined for their term. Richardson concluded by thanking the audience, saying that “you being here has enabled your peers to better serve you next year.”
Stillwagon emphasized the need for change, saying “business as usual is not enough,” and she encouraged students to be sure that whoever they vote for is willing to fight for them and their RSO. She and Kulkarni spoke to the power of the student voice and called on the audience to use it by participating in more than just SGA elections.
Ziyad and Salinas called students to action with a series of questions: “Do you want more of the same, or do you want to ‘DRIVE’ into the future? … Who has been out front serving a variety of communities, … and who has been meeting students where they are?”
The polls opened on Monday, March 3, and the election results will be announced in Harrison Square on Friday, March 7. Students can vote now on Tech’s Engage homepage at gatech.campuslabs.com/engage. For more information on voting, the candidates and how to report an election violation, see sga.gatech.edu/elections.