The University Park Undergraduate Association held an “Executive Debate” (read: Town Hall) Thursday night in the HUB for students to hear from the election’s only executive ticket, Cody Heaton and Laura McKinney. This is hard-hitting stuff, folks.

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Audience Questions

Eagles or Patriots?

Cody: College football. Actually, “anything but the Patriots.”

Laura: Dolphins…but Go Birds for now, since I’m in Pennsylvania.

What did you see in Seun Babalola in adding him to your campaign team?

Cody: Seun asked to meet one day and we kind of just kept meeting after that. He’s a very good voice for his community, and I think that’s huge. It’s important that he’s aware of social issues and internal issues. “I think he’ll challenge us…I think he’ll question anything I do and offer a different perspective, which I fully welcome and want him to.”

Laura: Seun is dynamic and impressive in how he presents himself.

What does it mean to have Beryl Bannerman on your team?

Laura: “Beryl has this contagious spirit about her. She just radiates this energy that’s just unrivaled.” Meant a lot to have her as a voice for different communities on campus.

Cody: “She came into this Assembly and was like sprinting,” whereas most people are walking. Beryl offered solutions to her criticisms of the organization.

What group do you think you can improve outreach to?

Multicultural orgs. “I think it got a lot better this year,” Cody said. Says meet and great this year was a great learning experience.

What do you see as the most prioritized Faculty Senate initiative for the 13th Assembly?

Don’t know. Previously sat on committee dealing with curriculum.

What issues on your platform are you most passionate about?

Cody: Affordability. Says as an RA he’s seen students struggling with finances. “It’s something that affects every single student at Penn State in some capacity.”

Laura: Student life initiatives. I want to see those through to take off to a whole new level.

You seem to have dropped every commitment you’ve made. How can we believe you’ll be committed to president?

Cody: No student president of an organization can be an RA. I’ve figured out that some other organizations are not for me. The one thing that’s stayed constant for me is UPUA. “I’ve been committed to this org. It’s something I take very seriously.”

What will you do to prevent sexual assault on campus?

Cody: Make sure students are aware of the issue and know what to do if they’re in that situation or see it happening. Promote Stand for State. Make our voices loud.

Laura: Target freshmen and educate them about the “Red Zone” when they’re more at risk.

Why are you running?

Cody: To help as many students as possible and be a resource for so many different people.

Laura: “I love people — I really do.” Looks up to Cody and was honored to have the opportunity to run with him.

How do you plan to develop better relationships with the media?

Laura: Make sure media comes to all the different events and things that we’re hosting.

Cody: Answering any questions and communicating to make sure they’re in the loop as much as possible.

What makes you both the most qualified candidates to be our best student government president and vice president?

Cody: Chairing a committee — managing projects and people and forging relationships with administrators. Working on the Student Fee Board. Both outgoing, but complement each other.

Laura: Sitting on three committees within UPUA. Bring everything I’ve learned off-campus back here.

What will you do for the Black community?

Cody: Offering support and making sure their voices are heard. Mentions new Ad-Hoc committee to get more voices within the Assembly.

Laura: Going outside of ourselves and our org. Reaching out to all the orgs involved, which is something we look forward to doing.

What initiatives do you plan to introduce first?

Cody: 1. Student Conduct Bill of Rights; 2. Eatin’ with Heaton (which he claims he didn’t come up with the name of)

Laura: Virtual reality admissions headset.

What is your favorite project you’ve worked on as a member of UPUA?

Laura: Chairing the roundtable for Mental Health and Wellness Week.

Cody: ADA enhancement around campus. Definitely the most rewarding and multi-faceted.

The PROSPER act threatens student ability to repay college loans and may encourage future students against Penn State. How would you advocate against this bill if it moves toward a vote in Congress?

Phone banking and lobbying the state government through Governmental Affairs committee.

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Elections Commission Questions

What is your favorite thing about Penn State?

Laura: “There’s a presence here. There’s an aura. It’s special.” The people at Penn State are one of a kind.

Cody: “Definitely the family aspect.” Penn Staters even outside of State College are automatically family. “The energy that the school brings is something you feel when you walk in.”

What is your favorite thing about UPUA and why?

Laura: Meeting people externally and within the organization.

Cody: “My goal freshman year was to meet my entire freshman class…which isn’t really possible…” The relationships matter most.

How would you describe yourself as a leader?

Cody: Allowing the people working under their leadership to be the best they can be — pushing from behind, in a sense.

Laura: Strive to be empathetic. Never forget that anybody could be in your seat right now, and it’s an honor to be in the position.

What would you consider success for the 13th Assembly?

Cody: Accomplish platform goals. Meaningful change. Approachability. Keep the momentum going from past Assemblies.

Laura: Shifting the momentum of the movement or the organization in a way that’s never happened before.

How do you plan to keep UPUA transparent?

Our meetings are all open. It’s really important to stay engaged overall. We do our best to let students know what’s going on. Big believer in the Eatin’ with Heaton initiative.

Do you have any concerns about student willingness to be involved in the UPUA given the fact that you’re running unopposed?

Cody: “We’ve been taking this election as if we’re contested.” Met with nearly every at-large rep. “We’re really trying to do this the right way and we think we are doing it the right way.”

Laura: “We want to make sure our platform initiatives are things that will positively affect everyone at the university, so we really dug deep with those.”

How do you plan on ensuring UPUA continues to diversify the voices in the organization?

Continue working through Outreach Committee. Collaborating on events and attending other organizations’ events. Building more organic relationships. Just showing up and creating that face recognition.

How do you plan to improve relations between UPUA and Greek Life?

UPUA and Greek life have a good relationship, and they want to continue and build on that to support this community. Platform initiative about the Student Conduct Bill of Rights will be helpful for Greek organizations who may find themselves in these positions.

How can Penn State improve its emergency management system?

Laura: Educating students on what to do in case of an emergency. Working with different conferences that come to the area to collaborate with them and push their teachings to students.

Cody: Plan to continue the emergency roundtable with constant influx of ideas and opinions.

What is your opinion on free speech zones on campus?

UPUA isn’t a political organization, but hate speech doesn’t belong here. We want to continue to promote inclusiveness.

What do you think is the most pressing issue of your academic affairs platform?

Cody: Textbook affordability, and also paying for homework services. “We’d really like to tackle those issues…to save students a lot of money.”

Laura: Says they want to work with Faculty Senate and continue progress made in the 12th Assembly.

If you could change one thing that happened during the 12th Assembly, what would it be and why?

Laura: “We have so much respect for the work of the 12th Assembly.” Says they would like to take what they did and growing upon it and looking internally to see what the organization can work on.

Cody: “We’re looking at [UPUA] holistically to try to improve it in every single way.”

Do you agree with criticisms that UPUA is closed? How do you plan to change this in practice and in perception?

Cody: If a student reaches out to me, I will always make time to meet with them.

Laura: “I just want student to know that if they do want to approach myself or Cody…it doesn’t matter what it is. We genuinely want to hear what they have to say.”

Say they both enjoy meeting new people and building relationships with them. Cody says he gets out of bed in the morning for the people.

How do you plan to work with local, state, and national governments to advocate for students?

Cody: Establishing collaborations, including like last night’s solar charging station project. For state and federal relations, utilizing different conferences and proving we’re serious about student issues and keeping our foot on the gas pedal.

Laura: Focus on the Borough and the local level. Having Borough presence at NSO is a platform initiative.

What has each of your biggest mistakes been during your time in UPUA, and how did you recover from those mistakes?

Cody: Trying to do everything as a Chair. Says it took him a few months to take a step back and delegate, really just to be there and check in on them but let them be the best representatives they could be.

Laura: Saying no to different opportunities. At the end of the day, it’s more effective to reach out to folks with the right skill sets. Doesn’t want to be afraid to ask for help.

What is the biggest obstacle student leaders face at the university and how can you overcome that?

Laura: Oftentimes students hear the word “no” from administrators and it’s key not to back down but then maybe pivot and find a better angle for that initiative.

Cody: Taking themselves too seriously. We’ve wanted to run our platform on not taking ourselves too seriously, and making ourselves “not goofy” but regular people.

(Note: Cody, you’re goofy. Embrace it.)

How do you plan on increasing student representation to the Board of Trustees?

This is something UPUA worked to advocate for this year, but Tom Wolf ultimately did not appoint a student. Cody wants to continue advocacy through the Gov Affairs Committee.

What else have you been involved in and how will that help you if elected?

Cody: I’ve done almost everything there is to do at Penn State, from rushing a fraternity to Club Crew to being an RA in East. This will allow me to advocate for the most people possible.

Laura: A lot of Comm orgs. My passion is poverty awareness in Haiti and transferring that to student poverty awareness with resources like Lion’s Pantry.

What does the phrase “a Community-Oriented Penn State” mean to you and how do you plan to ensure it?

Accepting all students for who and what they are and supporting them in all endeavors.  Cody says it’s all about building relationships with students. Laura emphasizes it’s also about future Penn Staters and setting them up for success with the right resources.

(Note: This writer is hype to cover Eatin’ with Heaton.)

How would you describe UPUA’s current work to combat sexual violence and mental health issues and what are you planning for the future?

Establish a year-round roundtable on these issues rather than just the two current programming weeks.

What is one of the biggest issues you see at Penn State and how would you change that?

Cody: Costs associated with coming to the university, including more than just tuition, like academic materials.

Laura: Community-oriented pillar of our platform.

What in your opinion is the role of UPUA and other student governments? What must they do to fulfill this role?

Advocate for students and be the student voice to administrators. Remain approachable so students feel comfortable coming up to members