The current president of the Student Government Association stepped up to the podium in Ransdell Hall Auditorium on Wednesday to kick off the SGA election debate.

SGA President Cory Dodds informed the audience of the varying levels of influence the students elected to executive positions in SGA will have on WKU’s campus and across the commonwealth of Kentucky.

“Therefore, it is very important for us to be informed about what each of these candidates will do for the university and the students,” Dodds said.

Cain Alvey, current administrative vice president, Keyana Boka, current executive vice president, and Fort Knox senior Austin Wingate are running for president.

Boka has several ideas for new initiatives and programs and she said she wishes to better train SGA members so they are fully prepared for their roles and can better communicate with each other.

“That lack of training and understanding of their responsibilities and roles is something I would greatly like to see improvement on,” Boka said.

Alvey also wants to initiate programs to enhance the lives of all Hilltoppers.

“The responsibilities of the president go far beyond what the constitution states,” said Alvey.

Wingate, who previously served as Speaker of the Senate, plans to create more diversity and unity between different groups of students on campus.

“We do not have a balanced representation of students in this university,” Wingate said.

Nicki Seay, the current Legislative Research Chair of SGA, is running for administrative vice president of SGA, and is concerned about reaching out to different groups of students, such as those on South Campus and regional campuses.

“Although they are not able to attend regular meetings here on main campus, they are WKU students nonetheless and I think we should be making efforts to reach out to them as well,” Seay said.

Brad Cockrel and Mark Reeves are running for executive vice president of SGA. Cockrel opened his speech with the goals he plans to attain if elected to executive vice president.

“I plan on using the experiences I had at community college in order to attain my goals of getting people more involved on campus, continuing to extend academic financial and social utilities on campus, and promoting a greener campus,” Cockrel said.

Mark Reeves, a current participant in WKU’s Masters program, plans to improve how WKU brings achievement to all groups of students.

“To me, the EVP is a position that gives a student the opportunity to provide leadership in a variety of areas,” Reeves said. “For me, the way that I would like to do that is provide leadership in ways that aren’t being provided elsewhere.”

An iPad Mini was raffled off at the end to those in attendance.

For more on the candidates running for president, read Friday’s edition of the Herald. Check out Tuesday’s edition for extended coverage on the vice presidential candidates.