Elizabeth Mantush | staff writer

As the student body looks to elect the next executive board of the Student Government Association, presidential candidates Mwango Kasuba of the Culture Party and Mary Paternoster of the Mission Forward Party faced off in a debate on Friday. 

The debate, hosted by The Duquesne Duke and Duquesne Student Radio, was the first ever recorded SGA presidential debate at Duquesne.

The debate kicked off with opening statements from each candidate.

Kasuba, a sophomore social studies education and history major, said he wants to give back and serve the students, as well as serving their vision of what college should be.

“I want to make sure everyone that comes to this university has a great experience,” he said.

He said that his board consists of a diverse representation of students who will have the ability to properly advocate for all groups of students.

“We are cultured people and we are here to help the student body with open arms,” he said.

Paternoster, a junior secondary education and English major, said her passion for student government began when she was in the fifth grade. Coming into her senior year, she knew it was time to step into a bigger role after being on the executive board for two years.

Her party is centered on the three pillars of the Duquesne Spiritan Mission: building authentic relationships, walking with those in the margins and living open to the spirit.

“I wanted to run on a platform that I felt was very special to me,” she said.

Both candidates said that listening to students is important when it comes to making changes that reflect their needs.

Paternoster said there are some lived experiences as an out-of-state student she has had, but there are many that she is not familiar with. But she said running with candidates in a variety of different groups allows her party to reach a wide variety of students and gain new perspectives.

She said her experience on the executive board over the past two years has inspired her to keep moving forward and build upon what has already been done.

Kasuba said he has seen SGA’s influence on campus firsthand.

As a senator, he said he advocated for police officers to direct traffic in the morning when there is an influx of students trying to get to campus. After having a conversation with Leanna Fenneberg, senior vice president for student life, he said the issue was fixed.

When asked how the candidates would handle student concerns about federal funding and Immigration and Customs Enforcement deportations under President Donald Trump’s administration Paternoster said she would take a similar approach to how worries were handled last year and “go straight to administration.”

“At the end of the day, they’re the ones who will be overseeing everything,” she said.

Kasuba said before going to administration and having “roundtable discussions” he will make sure he and his fellow board members will do research to become “well-versed” on the subject matter. He said he would also look at available resources throughout the Pittsburgh area and also look toward other universities for guidance. 

“At the end of the day, just as a Pittsburgh community, we are all here to serve our students,” he said.

Paternoster said to her a perfect Duquesne is somewhere where students feel as though they’re a part of a bigger community and they use their unique experience to enhance the campus.

“Everyone adds something, everyone comes from somewhere, everyone has a different story, has different traits and has so much to add,” she said.

Kasuba said that working toward perfection means communicating with the administration and promoting transparency so that students understand why policies are they way they are. He also said a perfect Duquesne would come in the form of getting more insight from students on what they want to see happen on campus.

One way that Kasuba and his party are working toward getting more student input is through a survey that is sent to students about their dining options. He said the survey will consist of questions concerning where students are eating, what kinds of food they like and how they get to restaurants, which will provide data about what food options students want.

“If we were going to go to administration about this, I don’t want to be in a position where they can tell us no,” he said.

Paternoster said a strong suit of her party is members’ experience within SGA because they know who to talk to to make things happen.

She said a goal of her party is to talk to students and gauge their knowledge of the Spiritan Mission and its pillars and host events to educate students on it.

Students vote on SGA’s Campus Link Page or using the QR codes that will be located around the Student Union. Voting will be open from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Wednesday.

Elizabeth Mantush can be reached at mantushe@duq.edu