The three remaining candidates for UNC’s student body president sat down with members of the editorial board to discuss their ambitions for the office. Overall, we were disappointed with how little the candidates managed to distinguish themselves from each other. We were hoping to see more of a departure from student government’s ineffective status quo. The fact that we didn’t see this from any of the candidates made us hesitant to endorse. But as we’ve said all year, it’s crucial for students to vote. We realize that one of these three candidates will be elected, and we look forward to a productive working relationship with the victor in the coming year.
Houston Summers is experienced, diplomatic, polished and likely to be listened to. His presidency would appear successful, if only because Summers seems likely to hitch his cart to the administration’s plans and appear victorious no matter what unfolds.
More troublingly, he tends to discuss student representation in terms of a singular “voice” over the plural “voices,” which is illustrative of the misguided outlook he brings to student government. Summers aspires to create “One Carolina,” and this board fears that if he is elected, his singular Carolina will speak clearly for the interests of the dominant majority while neglecting marginalized voices who fail to make a dent in his statistical sampling.
Finally, we were disappointed to learn that he lied about voting in the 2014 midterms. We question how someone with a demonstrated lack of interest in state politics could effectively advocate for students in Raleigh.
