Two pairs campaigning to be Campus Y co-presidents debate

Standing in front of a full house, four candidates explained how they would push to make the Campus Y more inclusive in the upcoming year.

The Campus Y Co-Presidents Forum was moderated by the current co-presidents, Vishal Reddy and Juliana Ritter, on Wednesday night. Regan Buchanan and Lauren Eaves are running as a pair against Monique Laborde and Noah Ponton.

In 2015, the Campus Y’s election had around a 60 to 70 percent voter turnout, said Reddy, who is a member of The Daily Tar Heel’s editorial board. Only those who registered as Campus Y members before Jan. 20 may vote in this year’s Campus Y election. The election will be held online Feb. 9.

Campus Y experience

Buchanan currently serves as the Y’s director of evaluations and Eaves serves as director of membership. Buchanan said she has facilitated communication, which allowed her to revamp the point group system — a method to evaluate Campus Y committees — this semester.

Eaves said she is currently working on Y-Connect, an online database for current Campus Y members and alumni. Laborde and Ponton said they have held positions on the executive board in the past. Laborde said she served as the first-year member at large and then as director of development.

Laborde said as a first-year, she went to department heads in order to raise money to bring activist Cornel West to campus to speak.

Ponton formerly served as director of communication, where he said he solidified most of the team’s responsibilities.

Changes to cabinet

Ponton and Laborde said they want to bring in more speakers from the community to speak at cabinet meetings, especially people running in local elections or for the N.C. General Assembly.

“We want to bring local activists in, whether or not we agree with them,” Laborde said.

Buchanan and Eaves said cabinet meetings are a time for committees to get to know each other, and they said they want to continue that tradition.

Meaning of membership

Eaves and Buchanan said they want to make the Campus Y more welcoming, and they want to install a “leave-one-take-one” bookshelf at the Y.

Ponton and Laborde said they want membership benefits, like alumni career panels and social events. They also want to make it easier to verify if someone is an active member of the Campus Y.

“I do not think that a Y membership should be just about paying five dollars,” Ponton said.

Laborde said she and Ponton will create a monthly Y podcast with guest speakers from the community.

Campus Y’s relationship to the rest of the campus

Laborde and Ponton want to bring in more outside perspectives to the Campus Y.

“We have to support the vision of other young student activists,” Laborde said.

Eaves and Buchanan said they also want to bring more people into the Campus Y and work with other activist and student groups.

Eaves said the Campus Y’s relationship with student government should be based on shared ideals.

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