The Lansing chapter of the League of Women Voters, the University Activities Board and the MSU Women's Resource Center invited the candidates to the Gold Rooms of the MSU Union to address important issues voters are concerned about.
"Being here and actually seeing the candidates face to face is much more personal," said Tiara Paciocco, president of the MSU chapter of the League of Women Voters.
"It's more motivating when you can see everything for yourself than just seeing everything on TV."
But the only students who showed up were those assigned to cover the story for their journalism classes.
Panelists included nominees for the MSU Board of Trustees, 55th District Court judge and 30th Circuit Court judge.
Trustee Joel Ferguson joined candidates Crystal Van Sickle, Phil Thompson and Benjamin Burgis representing the board race. They addressed issues such as the medical school's move to Grand Rapids, the liberal arts reorganization, the potential expansion of student housing and the recent changes to the tailgating policies.
"The thing we won't accept are students having chug-a-lugs and people abusing those who are out there to enjoy the game," Ferguson said. "But, this is not the end-all. We'll be amending the policy."
The forum was temporarily interrupted by members of Students for Economic Justice, who wanted to let the trustee candidates know they are appalled MSU hasn't joined the other Big Ten schools as part of the Worker Rights Consortium, a labor standards policy aimed at stopping MSU apparel from being made in sweatshops.
Following the discussion, Tommy Simon, a member of Students for Economic Justice, explained the reason for the disruption.
"We're just trying to bring attention to an issue that has been ignored by the board for the last five years," Simon said.
With the presidential election taking center stage this November, it sometimes overshadows the local elections, said MSU Board of Trustees Democratic candidate Phil Thompson. He said it's important students understand the implications of their vote beyond the Oval Office.
"Everywhere I go, I try to talk to students to remind them how important the local elections are," Thompson said. "I'm surprised at how few people really know what the trustees do and who they are,"
Thompson said he wants to meet with the student community to inform them about how their vote will impact them.
"They'll see how it touches them directly, sometimes more so than the presidential election," he said.
Evan Rondeau can be reached at rondeau1@msu.edu.
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