Gabriela Danger & Danette Heredia | PantherNOW Staff
Candidates and students gathered together in Graham Center to listen to FIU’s Student Government Association candidates debate and lay out their initiatives on Feb. 21.
Presidential Candidates
The running SGA presidential candidates for this term are Santana Way with The Future is You party and Francesca Casanova with Gold and Blue party.
Both parties have prior experience in student government with Way holding the current position as vice president of SGA and Casanova being a former senator representing Engineering & Computing.
Both parties carry similar opinions throughout the debate like creating a safe space for students to voice concerns, incorporating more diversity into SGA, and building FIU’s student community into one entity.
This term, the Gold and Blue party is aiming to make the student body more aware of their elected officials and to foster a connection between students and organizations towards SGA for their needs to create a more comfortable environment for everyone.
“I want you to feel that you can come to me to talk to me and voice your concerns, and I want you to know who your representatives are – know who your student body president and vice president are and just be able to come to the SGA office as a safe space for you to voice your concerns and find the resources you need on this campus, cause everyone deserves a space here.”
As a student of FIU’s engineering program and former senator representative, Casanova has experienced the extreme disconnect from the College of Engineering and Computing to the rest of FIU, especially in student government, first-hand.
This was a point that was emphasized throughout Gold and Blue’s debate – the importance of listening and representing all students.
“I think that all students need to be heard and that’s something the Gold and Blue part is standing firm on,” Casanova said during her opening statement.
The Future is You is establishing their party on building students and “for every student to be able to create their own legacy,” Way said. “Through means of accessibility, creating a stronger campus life and higher engagement, The Future is You party believes they can achieve this goal.”
The Future is You party’s most prominent argument was what not might be done, but what has been done. Way has organized a multitude of events and actions for students with his position as vice president of the board including Barbershop Talk, extending Breezeway Cafe’s closing time, Recharge for Finals, and developing a diverse council for Greek life.
“These are motions and things I’ve already done, that I’ve dedicated the diversity and inclusion to the university,” said Way after being asked his plan to represent diverse voices.
The Future is You party wants to create an event called the “Orglympics” which is a week of friendly competition between registered organizations at FIU that have the potential to win additional funding, creating more community and collaboration within organizations.
Elections will be held on March 5th and 6th through the FIU Voting Portal and election announcements will be on March 8th at 12 pm in the GC Pit.
This is part of the 2024-2025 SGA Debate series. To read about the vice presidential and BBC debates, click here.
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