The candidates running for Missouri Students Association president and vice president were able to dive deeper into their campaign goals at MSA’s presidential campaign debate in Wrench Auditorium on March 5 at 5:30 p.m.

This was one of the last opportunities for slates to differentiate themselves to voters.

Presidential candidate Clay Van Eaton and Vice Presidential candidate Emily Brockmann are the candidates from All in 4 Mizzou. Presidential candidate Kayla Modacure and Vice Presidential candidate Olivia Prudhomme make up the Revive the Roar slate. 

Adam Busack, the assistant general manager of KCOU, and Molly Coy, the assistant general manager of the Mizzou Student Media Podcast Network, moderated the debate. Jacob Richey, the Mizzou Student Media general manager, wrote the debate questions. The moderators addressed both slates with general questions as well as slate specific questions that focused on aspects of the individual slates’ platforms. After a five-minute break, moderators asked audience-submitted questions which were selected by MSM members. 

Awareness of MSA

Both slates stated intentions to raise awareness for MSA among MU students, but expressed different plans to do so.

Revive the Roar said it plans to implement a newsletter that briefs students on MSA activity and how it impacts them. 

“A lot of times students are kind of disconnected to what goes on in MSA,” Modacure said. “It’s such a big organization that caters to so many students that they don’t understand how it impacts them directly, and that’s something that we want to show them. We want to open the doors and just let everyone know this is what we’re doing.”

The slate also said it wants to implement an online forum that allows students to send suggestions to MSA. Unlike the physical suggestion boxes currently in place, the forum would enable students to receive feedback on their suggestions.

“There are suggestion boxes on campus that you can put a sheet of paper in and you just don’t know what happens with that suggestion,” Prudhomme said. “Essentially, we want an online forum that gives someone confirmation that their voice is heard on campus.”

During an opportunity to respond, Brockmann asked Revive the Roar, “With the newsletter being a main part of your platform, have you guys looked into MU Info’s data to see how many students are actually engaging with MU Info or any of those email sources?”

Modacure said in response that the slate has not looked into the numbers and expressed skepticism in their ability to do so. She also said that the slate would be able to appropriately adjust their plans after implementing them.

The All in 4 Mizzou slate plans to use social media pages to inform students of what MSA is doing. 

“Students deserve to know what their student government is up to for all stakeholders, whether they realize it or not, and just valuing transparency does that and getting the word out there is a great start.” Van Eaton said.

Brockmann said that the pair would like to utilize their personal social media along with university social media pages to inform students about MSA given the university has a larger social media reach. The slate wants to kick off a “trickle-down effect” with social media, where the slate would use its pages to reach organization leaders who would spread the word about MSA to its members.

“Connectivity isn’t just about Wi-Fi signals or social media platforms,” Van Eaton said regarding connecting MSA with the student body. “It’s about forging meaningful connections that transcend boundaries, fostering bonds that unite us in our diversity and enrich our collective experiences.”

MSA presidential candidate Clay Van Eaton responds to one of presidential candidate Kayla Modacure’s questions during the MSA presidential debate on March 4, 2024 at Memorial Union in Columbia, Mo. 

Accessibility

A key focus of both slates is increasing accessibility on campus. In a prior email conversation with The Maneater, All in 4 Mizzou said it hopes to add accessibility modifications to “classrooms, bathrooms or sidewalks.” When asked specifically how the slate will provide these modifications, Brockmann said they will reach out to the Disability Center to “find what they need help with and amplify their voices.”

When asked by the opposing slate if All in 4 Mizzou has plans to support students with invisible disabilities, Van Eaton said his slate plans to work with the Office of Accessibility and ADA to promote existing disability resources on campus through social media and newsletters. Additionally, Brockmann said All in 4 Mizzou is looking to connect students facing similar life experiences by starting peer support groups.

“A big part about having these invisible disabilities is having someone to talk to about that,” Van Eaton said.

Earlier in the debate, Van Eaton discussed how his Tourette Syndrome diagnosis has fueled his interest in promoting inclusivity. The slate also plans to listen to campus organizations representing students with disabilities to gather recommendations as to what improvements should be made.

Both slates have reached out to student and community organizations to inform their campaign objectives. All In 4 Mizzou discussed their conversations with the Legion of Black Collegians, Office of Accessibility and ADA, Greek Life and the University of Missouri Police Department. The slates conversations focused on campus safety and learning what changes these stakeholders would like to see brought about by MSA leadership.

All in 4 Mizzou also said they visited MSA auxiliary programs Tiger Pantry and Truman’s Closet.

“They need, honestly, so many more resources than they’re getting,” Brockmann said in an interview following the debate. “I think that if we start working with them, then it’ll just amplify the impact they have on students.”

Modacure said Revive the Roar believes that there is a stigma regarding Truman’s Closet and Tiger Pantry which needs to be acknowledged and that the slate wants to work with these organizations to reach a solution.

Revive the Roar said it will work to uplift student organizations that it believes have been historically left out.

“We’re speaking with the Mizzou Disability Club, we’re speaking with Public Health Club, just those smaller niche boards,” Modacure said. 

Revive the Roar said it also spoke with the Mizzou Young Democratic Socialists of America. 

“We’re really hitting those pockets of campus that we feel like are unheard of, that we feel like don’t have a seat at the table,” Modacure said.

Prudhomme also told The Maneater in a post-debate interview that she was diagnosed with idiopathic hypersomnia, a disease that causes excessive daytime sleepiness when she was 14 years old. 

“It’s just more cognitively that’s what affects me,” Prudhomme said. “So, throughout the debate, I’ve never been in a situation where I had to follow what everyone else was saying at the same time.”

Mental Health

Revive the Roar said it based its plans for administration on a 2020 survey, which showed the leading factors of stress for students were academic. Also, Modacure said  a 2024 survey also indicated that 47% of LGBTQ+ students suffered from high levels of stress and at least one mental health concern, compared to 27% of non-LGBTQ+ students.

Modacure said the stress was indicated to lead to problems of substance abuse. Alcohol abuse and binge drinking is a primary concern for the slate’s campaign, and it hopes to use the topic as an issue to unite campus for a common cause. 

“Having a big color walk that brings in all parts of campus beyond IFC and PHA and NPHC, but [is also] bringing those little pockets of campus as well so that we can all show that we’re one unified campus,” Modacure said.

In a previous interview with The Maneater regarding their platform goals, Revive the Roar said the color walk would be a campus-wide event where students would walk the route of the Homecoming parade, visiting tables with resources about binge drinking, and all the while being sprayed with colored powder, which would create a tie-dye effect on attendees’ clothes.

Revive the Roar said it plans to gather student feedback and work with university administration  to implement mental health days, which would be incorporated in syllabuses and would count as excused absences. 

MSA presidential candidate Kayla Modacure answers a question on March 4, 2024 at Memorial Union in Columbia, Mo. 

All in 4 Mizzou acknowledged the current MSA Administration’s success with Mental Health Week, and it believes that a sense of belonging through involvement would help with students’ mental health.

“Getting [incoming freshmen] plugged into organizations, and [finding] their home, helps that connection and helps mental health,” Van Eaton said.  

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

The slates differed on how to navigate relationships with other campus student governments and organizations. All in 4 Mizzou said it wants to establish MSA as a “hub” for other student governments. 

 “We’re excited to work with all of these different student governments and start having conversations about what interactions would be meaningful for them,” Brockmann said.

Revive the Roar, however, said it is against the idea of MSA serving as a central hub.

“There’s a reason that these governments exist, and there’s a reason that they feed into different parts of campus,” Modacure said. “There’s a need for that community with local students who they’re serving.”

Instead of a “hub,” Revive the Roar said it hopes to have general meetings with the leadership of other student governments early in the year after taking office. Modacure said this will be a place where different leaders can exchange contact information and solve problems if they arise. 

When asked what programs the candidates hope to continue from the current administration, Modacure said she hopes to continue to diversify products sold at the Mizzou Market, particularly making sure beauty and hygiene products would be tailored for different hair and skin types

On the topic of diversifying products offered to students, All in 4 Mizzou said it hopes to increase the variety of food offered at the Tiger Pantry.

“A large percentage of [Tiger Pantry] students that they serve are international students,” Van Eaton said. “They talked about how one of the problems that they face is not having the cultural food for their students, so that’s something that we want to work with them on as well.”

Two of the audience questions were from LBC, the first regarding the difficulties organizations of color have acquiring MSA funding, and how the candidates might work to disseminate funding more equally.

Revive the Roar said it believes that it needs to work to understand the underrepresented pockets of campus. Furthermore, the candidates want to work to educate MSA Senate on the reasons these organizations need funding, and what providing funding means to students of color.

Van Eaton said that All in 4 Mizzou believes that addressing discrimination is important and that it will have difficult conversations and promote inclusivity.

In a second question from LBC, both slates had an opportunity to explain how they plan to support marginalized organizations in light of new legislation on affirmative action.

Modacure said that she understood how it feels to be marginalized, and how it feels to not be accepted within one’s community. With that, she said she knows how to advocate and fight for something.

“I think that it’s still something that we see everyday,” Modacure said. “You try to look around, you still see that there’s disadvantages going on because of race. I think that’s something that we’re not ever going to ignore, despite what’s going on with affirmative action.”

Prudhomme said that she met Modacure through The Vasey Academy, a program in the Trulaske College of Business that focuses on professional development for first-generation and under-resourced students. 

“I think that we need to realize that these resources [that support marginalized students] are very important,” Prudhomme said. “Some students may be at a disadvantage from the jump, and these resources will help uplift us as well.”

When asked about affirmative action, Van Eaton and Brockmann discussed racism on campus. 

“First and foremost, let’s be clear that racism has no place in this community, and it undermines the very fabric of our values and diminishes the humanity of every individual that it touches,” Van Eaton said. “We must confront it head-on, and not only through words but through meaningful action.” 

All in 4 Mizzou said it wants to build a cabinet diverse in both perspectives and backgrounds. The slate said it wants to ensure that the decisions made by the executive branch are reflective of the entire student body. 

“We believe that multiple perspectives and minds are more powerful than just one and working together — we can make [a diverse cabinet] happen,” Van Eaton said. 

Modacure and Prudhomme also acknowledged the importance of a diverse cabinet, while emphasizing the importance of getting a diverse perspective on issues from students. 

“At the end of the day, everyone is a member of the Missouri Students Association,” Prudhomme said regarding why students’ voices matter. 

Success Indicators

The moderators asked both slates how they will succeed more than previous administrations and how each  will ensure agenda success in their one year of office.

Modacure said that her slate’s proposed  MSA newsletter will foster accountability for the student government, pushing them to fulfill their agenda.

“It’s letting down that guard,” Modacure said. “It’s letting down that shield that you have knowing that students aren’t really engaged with MSA.”

Prudhomme said that the slate will make sure that its progress is measurable.

“[We are] very big on the data and the numbers and seeing if some area or idea needs improvement,” Prudhomme said. 

The All in 4 Mizzou slate said that it will be more successful than previous cabinets that have held office because it will respond directly to the students’ needs. 

“What makes Clay and I successful is that we won’t just be reaching students, we will be working with students to find what means the most to them,” Brockmann said. 

Van Eaton said that the priorities of the students is what matters most to their campaign, rather than what the university or their slate personally wants. 

“We want to reach out to as many organizations and individuals as possible and really follow through with that,” Van Eaton said. “It’s easy to send an email and to say you’re done with it, but following through with that — having those difficult conversations because oftentimes, those difficult conversations are the most important ones.”

All undergraduate students will be able to cast their vote on vote.missouri.edu between Tuesday, March 5th at noon and Thursday, March 7th at 11:59 p.m.

Edited by Genevieve Smith | gsmith@themaneater.com

Edited by Sam Barrett | sbarrett@themaneater.com 

Copy edited by Sterling Sewell | ssewell@themaneater.com 

Edited by Scout Hudson | shudson@themaneater.com