Yesterday afternoon, President Gavin Keirans and Vice-President Hillary Gupta announced their unequivocal endorsement of Christian Ragland for UPUA President and Colleen Smith for Vice-President. Citing Christian’s relationships with both student leaders and the administration, as well as Colleen’s work on advancing student interests in local and state government, Keirans called the duo “the best choice to lead”.

The endorsement went on to compliment David Adewumi on his charisma and passion, but noted his lack of experience as a distinct disadvantage. Ragland said, “It is an honor to have both Gavin and Hilary endorse us as together they have accomplished a lot.” In addition to Keirans and Gupta, the campaign has also received the endorsement of numerous other individuals and organizations.

After learning of the endorsement, Adewumi had this to say:

“This is an election, not a coronation. In a democracy you don’t hand-pick your successors. [Ragland-Smith] say they are in touch with the student body, but they’ve been planning their presidency in secret meetings with Keirans for months. Clearly, they have no desire to end wasteful spending practices like Wallypalooza and the downtown office that nobody needs or uses”

Additionally, he took issue with Keirans’ claim that he lacked experience, saying, “My real world experience qualifies me for leadership. My opponents have experience at being politicians not experience with getting real tangible results.”

Ragland responded strongly to Adewumi’s statement that he was “hand-picked”, arguing:

“If the election goes well, Colleen and I will probably look to Gavin and Hilary for some advice but to say that Gavin was attempting to “handpick” me as his successor not only undermines me as a candidate, but rather undermines the whole UPUA Elections Process. Those sorts of allegations show either a complete lack of respect for the institution and its members or a complete lack of understanding for how the electoral process works. The UPUA elections are about the students electing students to work on their behalf, not appointments from the top down.”

The final Presidential debate is scheduled for 7PM tonight in the HUB Auditorium. Those of you planning to attend should look forward to more explosive exchanges of this nature.