The Student Government Association (SGA) presidential and vice presidential candidates for the 2025-26 academic year presented their platforms at Monday night’s debate. 

The debate took place in Centennial Hall at the Carl R. Reng Student Union and was moderated by current SGA Vice President Ahniya Williamson. 

Current SGA President, Micayla McGowen, a senior marketing major from East End, Arkansas, said an SGA president must be able to step out of their comfort zone but also remember their values. 

“Being SGA president means to be a face that everyone can come and talk to, that helps everyone on campus and just someone who can be relatable, present and confident in who they are,” McGowen said. 

Louis Gonzalez and Chauncy Betts are running together as president and vice president, respectively, under the slogan: “Bridging Ideas. Building Community.” Their platform focuses on improving student retention, enhancing campus leisure, promoting unity and addressing student concerns through actionable solutions. 

“We have to mediate between the institution and the students, that’s what I came here for,” Gonzalez, a sophomore biology major from Kansas City, Missouri, said. “I’m willing to fight and I’ve already been fighting for these students here — always willing to fight, always willing to compromise, always willing to collaborate for a better, brighter future for you.”

On the other ticket, Jake Williams and Kate Malone are running for president and vice president, respectively.

They said their campaign slogan, “For the Students — Leadership that listens,” highlights their goals to strengthen collaboration, foster campus connection, increase transparency between SGA and the student body as well as ensure students understand how their fees are allocated. 

Williams, a sophomore business administration major from Piggott, Arkansas, said his leadership team will work closely with the A-State’s treasurer’s office to construct a thorough breakdown statement of what students pay for. 

“That way every student understands, because we are leadership that listens,” Williams said. 

Gonzalez said his two most important initiatives involve student retention and campus harmony.

Regarding student retention, Gonzalez said A-State has a hard time keeping students enrolled, and his leadership team would focus on improving student’s academic success.

“If we don’t have retention, we do not have a community,” Gonzalez said. 

Similarly to Williams, Gonzalez also said collaboration is important among student organizations — especially with minority associations and international students. 

“This is who we are, this is our community, this is us, right?” Gonzalez said. “We can’t be so divided, we can’t be so broken apart, we’re Arkansas State University, yet there are so many subgroups and we can’t really identify as one.”

Williams said he does believe there is division, however, students can still come together and be one. 

He said he wants to bring all registered student organization (RSO’s) leaders together in a program called ‘campus connections.’

“Bringing them all together and letting them have a voice in our student government is of utmost importance. To let them know what changes are happening in policy. To let them talk to us and have communications with us is super important as well,” Williams said. 

Malone, a sophomore strategic communication major from Germantown, Tennessee, said her motivation for running as vice president goes back to hearing upperclassmen talk about A-State before the pandemic. 

“Every student here deserves to have a college experience that is worth remembering and having fun memories of. I want to help create a campus where every student feels connected, valued and proud to call A-State their home just like I do,” Malone said. 

Additionally, she said her goal for SGA goes back to transparency. 

“Transparent about why we’re doing and what we’re doing, it’s really easy to be told, ‘Come to this. Do this. Be a senator, come do this.’ But why? If we don’t know why, that creates no action. Without action, things are not going to get done,” Malone said. 

Meanwhile Betts, a sophomore strategic communication major from McGehee, Arkansas, 

said as vice president he would continue to build the strength of potential leaders. 

“As senators, they are in different organizations, so they should govern those smaller parts where it pertains to their group organizations,” Betts said. “Promoting forums themselves would benefit us all.”

Gonzalez said Betts has had multiple ideas in helping the finances of the students, including promoting financial literacy. 

In his closing remarks, Williams said his campaign is not about him, Malone or the staff they’ve put together.

“It is truly about the students here on campus that we care about. It’s about making sure that every student at a state has a voice, has real opportunities and a campus experience that feels like home,” Williams said. 

During his closing remarks, Gonzalez discussed past resolutions that he and his leadership team helped pass over their time as senators — including the housing scholarship committee. 

He said the housing scholarship was brought to his attention when there was a campus-wide support for the resolution.

“The student body had yelled, screamed, fought for that scholarship resolution to be brought back and I took my chance, I seized it and I wrote it for you all again,” Gonzalez said. “Communication is the most important thing between us, and you all — the mediator, the bridge building a better community.”

Students may cast their vote by following a link found in the Daily Digest or on the SGA Instagram. Voting will close at 9 a.m. Thursday. Election results will be announced tomorrow at noon on the first floor of the student union.

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