The UC presidential and vice presidental candidates face off in a debate sponsored by the Asian American Association in Emerson Hall last night.The U.C. presidential and vice presidental candidates face off in a debate sponsored by the Asian/Asian America

Undergraduate Council (UC) candidates discussed student group funding, cultural diversity in academics and within the UC, and relations between cultural groups and the UC during an Asian/Asian-American forum held yesterday in Emerson Hall.

The forum, sponsored by 14 Asian and Asian-American organizations on campus, was organized in order to bring the concerns and issues of those groups to the attention of UC candidates, its organizers said.

“We feel it is important to speak up about the issues we have,” said Edward Y. Lee ’08, coordinator of the forum, which attracted about 30 students. “The UC election is a great time when the student body can come together and discuss issues important to them.”

Lee is a former finance committee secretary of the UC.

Prior to the event, UC presidential candidate John S. Haddock ’07 said it was important that he and his running-mate, Annie R. Riley ’07, hear from many organizations.

“Annie and I believe that student groups, like those represented at the Asian-American Forum, are the heartbeat of campus,” he said.

During the debate, the candidates were asked about their plans to bring student groups together. Riley responded that she and Haddock would meet with student groups and offer larger grants to encourage multiple groups to apply for them together.

Presidential candidate Magnus Grimeland ’07 and his running-mate, Thomas D. Hadfield ’08, said their plan is to create a student endowment fund to subsidize student groups and to produce a UC newsletter that would list student group activities around campus.

Tara Gadgil ’07, running-mate of presidential candidate John F. Voith ’07, said that she and Voith would appoint two UC representatives to help student groups apply for funding from the UC and facilitate communication between student groups and the administration.

When asked about cultural diversity in academics, Grimeland stressed that there should be more student involvement in curricular review.

“What I’ve learned is that students have very strong ideas about what they want to study,” he said. He suggested, for example, that the administration consult Asian students when designing a curriculum in Asian studies.

Gadgil—a major player in UC proposals for South Asian and Native American studies—said she thinks faculty diversity and improving study abroad options are important issues.

Haddock and Riley said these were topics they hoped to address as well.

The forum’s format allowed students from the audience to submit questions of their own. These questions were then read by Lee, who was the forum’s moderator. One student asked about the UC’s own ethnic homogeneity, which all candidates said they considered a problem.

Haddock said that minority students might not run for UC positions, perhaps because “the UC isn’t representing them” and hasn’t “been able to give them the support and funding that they deserve.”

Gadgil pointed out that she was the only minority candidate in the election and said that she hoped that her example would encourage other minorities to run in the future.

Grimeland also said he would reach out to minority groups to encourage their members to run in UC elections.

The student-run organization “Vote or Die” was created last year in response to the issue of minority representation on the UC. The group supports minority students who run and vote in UC elections.

The debate ended with a request that the candidates say one nice thing about the other candidates.

“I really like Tom’s accent and Annie’s pink scarf,” said Voith.

“Haddock is one of the smartest guys you’ll ever meet...He’s smarter than me,” Grimeland answered.

Nancy A. Hung ’08—co-publicity chair of the Asian-American Association (AAA)—said she found the forum helpful.

“It definitely is a first step toward building greater relations between cultural organizations and the UC,” she said.

“The success of this event is an indication of the fact that students want to engage in a discussion on race and diversity, and I think that we’re headed in the right direction,” said Lee, the forum’s coordinator, at the end of the event.