The University of Michigan Central Student Government held presidential and vice presidential debates Friday as a part of the upcoming CSG elections. The Michigan Daily provided questions for the candidates, which was moderated by a representative from the Michigan Debate team. The debate was livestreamed on Instagram.
LSA junior Hayley Bedell and Public Policy junior Luca Giobbio are the presidential and vice presidential candidates for the incumbent EMPOWER MICHIGAN party, which aims to promote a positive student experience on campus and build relationships between CSG and the student body. LSA sophomores Summit Louth and Naimah Perez are the presidential and vice presidential candidates for the Human Rights Party, which focuses on progressive advocacy and addressing affordability issues on campus. LSA freshman Isabel Kiiskila and LSA senior Tony Liu are running as independent presidential and vice presidential candidates, whose campaign revolves around elevating student concerns. Kiiskila was unable to participate in the debate due to scheduling conflicts.
During opening remarks, Louth said he and HRP hope to advocate for student voices and opinions.
“I’m running for student president because I really don’t think I need to do much explaining about the world we’re living in today,” Louth said. “Students fear addressing their political views in public, whether it be in the classroom or at a protest or at a picket line, whether it be in their professional papers. These are all things that concern me and they are things that concern the student body as well.”
Bedell said she and EMPOWER MICHIGAN hope to improve affordability and address mental health concerns on campus.
“It’s hard to be a student in higher education right now,” Bedell said. “There’s a college mental health crisis, the cost of living is rising. Students don’t feel safe expressing their beliefs on campus. Students are watching their own student experiences slip by every single day. That’s why EMPOWER MICHIGAN is fighting for a campus where students get the support and agency they need to gain control.”
In response to a question regarding how each candidate would address campus affordability issues, Bedell said her administration would work on an emergency loan program to help students struggling with rising housing costs in Ann Arbor, modeled after a similar program at Michigan State University.
“Their student government has a loan program where at the beginning of each semester, their students can go to the student government and take out up to $300 in loans and spend that on whatever they need,” Bedell said. “It’s an emergency loan system, and then they pay it back throughout the semester. We’re currently working with agencies at MSU to figure out what that loan system would look like and how to implement it on campus.”
Louth said a main goal in his platform is centered around increasing the percentage of CSG funds that go towards student organization funding and pushing the University to subsidize laundry services.
“Right now, 57% of our budget is going toward funding student orgs, and 55% of it last semester was used for funding student orgs,” Louth said. “I can give you a guarantee right now — I will tell you that I will resign if I win and I don’t propose a fall 2026 budget that allocates at least 60% of our funds to the Student Organization Committee.”
In response to a question on how candidates would respond to the potential presence of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on campus, Bedell said she aims to work with University administration to protect students.
“One idea that we have to kind of tackle this is to ensure that our university buildings and our university remains a shrine, a sanctuary for education,” Bedell said. “We’re chatting with administration about making University buildings Mcard access only. Another way that we can tackle this is by providing intentional care for the students that are affected. So that looks like students going to a dedicated counselor in the Spectrum Center, for example, or a dedicated counselor with the (International Center).”
Louth said CSG must take a stand against federal pressure to best advocate for the student body.
“We need to say, ‘Look, we understand that the interests of the federal government are their own thing and administrators need to have their own relationship with the federal government, but student voices need to be represented as well,’” Louth said. “I feel like that has been eerily absent in administrators’ minds.”
During the vice presidential debate, in response to a question regarding candidates’ support or opposition to the Divest for Humanity Act — which was recently passed again after a veto from CSG president Eric Veal Jr. last semester — Liu brandished a piece of ginger root attached a metal stick and said the University’s Board of Regents were responsible for campus division over divestment.
“I come here today bearing this ginger root, because the root of the problem is that the regents are cowards,” Liu said. “I repeat, the regents are cowards.”
Liu then proceeded to eat the ginger root.
Giobbio expressed support for Veal Jr.’s veto and said he believed it was too divisive for the student body.
“I’ve been witness to multiple different iterations of CSG discussing this particular issue,” Giobbio said. “In the fall, the divestment resolution was passed, and it was vetoed by Eric Veal (Jr), and he made a good point about how regardless of the intent of a resolution like this, in this nature, it leads to negative effects of the campus community. It leads to an increase in the division that we see between ourselves and our neighbors. It leads to a university experience where there are rising levels of hate crimes for multiple different types of students and groups of students on campus.”
Perez said she supports the Divest for Humanity Act and believes it is important for the University to acknowledge the impact global issues have on student life.
“I feel that it is very important to be aware (and) politically cognizant of the issues that are going on around this world and be available to students, because students are our number one priority,” Perez said. “Students want the support of the University behind them. They want to know that they are okay, that they are safe in a place where they are getting education. … We owe it to them that we hear them, that we are trying to work with them and we will continue to work with them.”
Students will be able to vote in the winter 2026 CSG elections March 25 and March 26 at vote.umich.edu.
Daily News Editor Sarah Palushi can be reached at sarpal@umich.edu.
