The Daily Cougar will host a debate between Student Government Association presidential candidates Prince Wilson and Carlos Reyes on Tuesday.
The debate will take place at 2:30 p.m. in the Lone Star Room of the University Center. Communication professor Michael Berryhill will serve as moderator.
The run-off election will be held Wednesday and Thursday. In addition to the presidential race, four at-large senate seats will be up for grabs.
Wilson, the SGA’s vice president, and Reyes, the director of finance, are battling for the right to replace SGA President Kenneth Fomunung, whose one-year term expires this semester.
The debate was temporarily canceled after Wilson declined to particpate, citing a conflicting schedule.
Wilson told Daily Cougar Editor in Chief Ronnie Turner in an e-mail Friday that he could not participate, but informed Turner on Sunday afternoon that he had changed his mind after further reviewing his schedule.
Turner said both candidates were made aware of the planned debate through an email sent Thursday.
“Of course, this was short notice on our part, but we had to make sure that the venue and moderator were secured before sending out invitations,” Turner said Saturday. “We figured that the candidates would have been able to carve at least one hour out of their busy schedules given the importance of this runoff election.”
Wilson finished first among four other candidates in the general election with 35 percent, while Reyes came in second with 24 percent. The race went to a runoff as neither candidate managed to garner a majority of the votes.
Wilson said in an e-mail Saturday that he did not consider his lead in the general election when he initially declined to participate.
“On Tuesday, I have class until 2:30 p.m., and I had to leave campus to pick up my election fliers,” he said.
Wilson said in an e-mail Saturday that he was prepared to debate his opposition and did not regret his initial decision to back out.
“I don’t regret anything in my life since I believe that everything happens for a reason. I learn from my mistakes, and I’ll proceed,” he said.
Reyes had a different point of view when first informed of Wilson’s original decision, expressing regret over the withdrawal.
“Prince has his platform, and I have mine,” Reyes said Saturday. “We both know what we want to provide, but if the students don’t know the specifics or do not have the opportunity to ask the pertinent questions they have in mind, then we are not really helping their cause.
“I wouldn’t want their questions to go unanswered and their concerns to go unheard.”
Turner said he understood the hectic schedules that both Wilson and Reyes must work with.
“Wilson simply said that he had prior commitments that would take place at the time of the debate,” Turner said Saturday. “He did not specify to me what those commitments were, but I imagine it had something to do with school. If so, that’s understandable. I can’t fault a guy for putting school first or keeping his word on previous commitments.”
The debate will be open for all students who wish to attend. Students will have the opportunity to ask questions of the candidates during an open forum.
Gotta love some of the candidates this year. Prince deciding that picking up fliers is more important than facing students’ questions is perfectly indicative of what’s wrong with SGA. Everyone sees candidates during the campaign season, but the moment that elections are over, our reps hide behind closed doors. If Prince would rather campaign than talk to students, then I’m giving up on SGA if he gets elected. Never saw him when he was VP; probably won’t ever see him if he becomes President.
Really? I see him everywhere I go. He is always talking to others and putting others before himself. In all honesty, He does have lots to do (schoolwork and other SGA events) and frontier fiesta is on the way. Looking over his record, he has accomplished alot. And lets look at it like this, how many times do you see the Vice President of the USA or even the dean? I believe he will make an excellent president.