Student Court hosts student body president debate

The basement of the Memorial Union laid host to a student body president debate, featuring the four candidates for president and vice president. Kole Nichols and Ivan Wognin are running against Mason Rademacher and Joseph Vollmer in the election. The debate was cordial with no back and forth between the candidates.

On the biggest problems facing North Dakota State, Rademacher said it is student representative: “We only have nine student senators running for re-election.” Rademacher said this isn’t a failure of any one person, but a sign that student government is not serving students as well as it could.

Rademacher said the way his ticket would address this problem would be to reach out to organizations on campus as well as sustaining growth and awareness of student government.

Nichols said the biggest problem he sees is a disconnect between students, the community, faculty and student government. Breaking down barriers between students and these facets of the community is a priority, according to Nichols.

The reason Rademacher gave for entering the race is a strong want to serve the student body of NDSU. Rademacher said he was a student body president and had other leadership positions at NDSCS in Wahpeton. “It really helped drive a passion for leadership that I still carry to this day,” Rademacher said.

Rademacher is the executive commissioner of External Affairs, which gives him the chance to help craft legislation and work with the state legislature directly on behalf of NDSU students. Rademacher said through this position he has been able to connect and advocate for the student body.

“I don’t take that lightly, knowing that when I stand up in front of a legislature committee advocating for NDSU and our great institution,” Rademacher said, “that I’m not only just representing the people sitting down here today, but I’m also representing the people at home taking online classes.”

Nichols said his bid was incentivized by his deep desire for public service. He said he has experience with leadership through Boy Scouts of America programs. “The public service aspect of it, being a student leader is the primary motivating factor for me personally,” Nichols said.

Nichols and Wognin are both student senators, but Nichols talked about their experience as students. Nichols said he has had a normal experience at NDSU, but also said he feels that he has the knowledge of the system to take on the title.

Wognin elaborated on their roles as student senators, saying, “I’ve been able to meet a lot of different students from other majors, other departments that made me understand why they’re on campus and what they need to be successful.”