With polls for the presidential election opening on Feb. 25, the presidential debate gave students a chance to hear where the candidates stand on issues facing the student body.

Speaking to around 40 students, the candidates — Aneal Ramkisson, Michael Cepeda, and vice presidential candidate Katie Morris (who stood in for presidential candidate Patrick Callahan) — answered questions about what they would do if elected for the upcoming term.

The first question asked by moderator Christopher Massana was about how the candidates would work to change FAU’s campuses. Ramkisson, while disagreeing with the word “change,” stated that he wants to “enhance” the campus’ existing qualities and focus on each campus’ individual needs. Morris spoke about fixing the eroding gym floor in Broward and buying golf carts for the Broward Night Owl — an escort service where students drive other students to their cars between 7 p.m. and 11 p.m. — getting a gym for the Jupiter campus, and moving for a 24-hour library in Boca Raton. Cepeda answered that he would advocate to ensure students could take classes on the campuses they are located on after hearing a story from a student on the Davie campus who had to cut down on work hours to commute to class in Boca. Cepeda also said he would work to establish a shuttle system from the Boca campus to the beach and build a gym for the Jupiter campus.

“One of the things I want to bring as the only student representative of the Board of Trustees is I want to bring more student representation, there is really no reason why if we have a program students are working on why we can’t have more data to back it up, more student leaders to come to meetings and to explain why we think this is a good program for FAU,” said Cepeda.

Morris, speaking for candidate Callahan, stated that he would bring communication to the Board of Trustees — the 13 highest ranking officials at FAU including one student seat (the student body president).

“The board is there for us. The board is there for students,” said Morris.

“One of the things I bring to the board of trustees is my diversity in experience,” said Ramkisson. Collecting data as backup for proposals to the BOT is essential to moving anything through their voting process, according to Ramkisson.

Massana asked the candidates about campus safety “and how [they] plan on addressing [the] issue,” leading Ramkisson to discuss his involvement in a walk around campus to evaluate the safety of FAU.

“I think safety should always be a concern at a university…I would do a pre-survey reaching out to students to make sure that all of their concerns are met…I think it’s a matter of really utilizing the great safety resources that Florida Atlantic University has provided and really let the students know that they’re there,” said Ramkisson.

Morris discussed working with FAU police department to establish a police liaison for students to come to about campus safety concerns. “We have a unique thing on our campus that we actually have real police and not just campus police that can’t really do anything. That’s why our campus is one of the safest in the nation,” said Morris.

Cepeda discussed how he made an effort to get the facts straight and reached out to FAU PD. “Safety is actually a top issue for all of us…early on in the campaign we actually made the decision to meet with the chief of police, Chief Lowe and we got into a very informative conversation with him…we learned about new initiatives that the FAU PD is working on right now, such as developing an app that is very similar to the light posts on campus, but it’s actually in your phone,” said Cepeda.

Vice presidential candidate Thomas DeMaio spoke for Cepeda, stating that school pride and focus on positive aspects of FAU are the biggest issues that this university faces.

Morris also spoke on the matter stating that students need to “realize we are all in the same university.” Recognition and showcasing the positive aspects of FAU is Ramkisson’s plan to improve issues that FAU faces.

To start off his term as president, Ramkisson plans to “evaluate the pulse of the university” and figure out what the best plan of action is to fix student’s concerns.

Morris said that their initiative is to start construction of a fountain to allow people to leave their mark on FAU. Morris also said that they are advocating for better dining options as well.

Cepeda said that he wants to “help the problem of convenience parking” by giving up the two free parking spots allotted to the president and vice president.