Temple students and faculty gathered in the Howard-Gittis Student Center on March 24 for a debate between Temple Student Government’s 2025-26 candidates, where they shared their stances on key campus issues. The debate was also live streamed by The Temple News.
This year’s debate featured two campaigns: Temple Tomorrow, led by Lourdes Cardamone, a junior political science and criminal justice major and Janeese Hochstetler, a junior advertising major, and TUnited, led by Yaam Malka, a sophomore psychology and political science major, and William Walker, a junior political science and secondary education major.
Cardamone and Malka acted as their parties’ spokespersons during the debate. The hour-long discourse was moderated by The Temple News’ News Editor Evelyn Blower. TSG will hold its election on March 26-27 online, and results will be announced March 28.
Here are the key issues tackled by both campaigns during the debate.
Freedom of Expression
Both campaigns have previously aligned themselves with political parties: Cardamone serves as president of Temple Democrats, while vice presidential candidate Walker has served as president of Temple Republicans. The candidates were asked how they plan to lead in a nonpartisan manner despite their affiliations.
Cardamone pointed to TSG’s system of checks and balances.
“I think overcoming nonpartisanship is something I try to do every day,” Cardamone said, “This is a non-political position. Obviously I’m passionate in my own life about Temple Dems, but I’ve been involved with TSG and I’ve never been able to insert my political position. This is bigger than that.”
Malka stressed collaboration within her ticket.
“I myself am a Democrat, but I am running alongside a Republican,” Malka said. “We work together to ensure TSG stays nonpartisan, as is written in its constitution. Neither of us compromise on our morals, but by creating a system of checks and balances in our own cabinet, we are able to focus on what’s best for students.”
Campus Safety
Since both campaigns prioritize improved public safety, the candidates were asked how they planned to differentiate their policies.
Malka cited a negative personal experience with Temple’s Code Blue emergency system and advocated for its maintenance and accessibility. She also proposed adding the Temple University Police Department’s number to students’ individual OwlCards.
Later in the debate, Cardamone praised the proposal as something Temple Tomorrow could adopt if elected. She emphasized the importance of making existing safety resources more accessible.
She also proposed a reworking of Temple’s FLIGHT shuttle system, citing negative student opinion of the service’s success gathered from canvassing.
Campus Development
Both campaigns acknowledged the benefits and disruptions to both students and the surrounding community in regards to recent construction developments.
Malka cited the ongoing construction of Paley Hall as disruptive, and promoted the strengthening of relations with the administration through TSG and utilizing their voice on the Board of Trustees to convey its impact on students.
“We want to advocate for the community to be involved in creating policy, and to work with administration and to have a voice in these matters,” Malka said.
Cardamone broadened the context of development to the surrounding North Broad community and emphasized steps students can take to better their community rather than halting construction, like the Community Service Coalition and the Philly Natives Committee.
“We’re only here for four years, and we have to think about how this affects our surrounding community as well,” Cardamone said.
Community Engagement & Outreach
Both campaigns highlighted increasing student engagement with TSG as a priority. Malka attributed the current lack of engagement to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
TUnited proposed the creation of a TSG-funded five-day cultural fair, similar to TempleFest, to foster dialogue among different campus communities. Malka also reiterated her commitment to reinstating a student senate, which was dissolved after the 2021-22 academic year.
“Opening our student government to more student involvement and enabling them to have a voice, that’s diversity in a nutshell,” Malka said.
In a later question, Cardamone opposed reinstating the senate, arguing that existing TSG infrastructure sufficed, while Malka refrained from arguing against any of Temple Tomorrow’s policies.
Cardamone also proposed creating a communication channel between student leadership, uniting clubs and organizations to advocate for their niche interests collectively. She promoted Temple Tomorrow’s foremost policy, establishing an executive director of diversity, equity and inclusion within TSG to ensure diverse student voices are represented.
Q&A and Rebuttals
During the audience Q&A portion, one student asked the candidates about their stance on free expression on campus and the university’s decision to place Students for Justice in Palestine on probation and their changes to protest regulations.
“I don’t support the silencing of anybody,” Malka said. “Everyone should be able to protest, but the new policies were made to keep everyone safe.”
Malka has been an active campus activist, protesting for the release of Israeli hostages in the Israel-Hamas war.
Cardomone stressed that TSG had no role in the decision to suspend SJP, but emphasized that protecting diversity initiatives would lead to fostering an environment for free expression.
“We need constant feedback to make sure students are heard to make sure their identity isn’t being trampled on,” Cardamone said.
Another student asked about STARS allocations, a system that grants funding to student organizations based on engagement metrics. Smaller clubs often struggle to meet the requirements compared to larger organizations.
Cardamone proposed eliminating certain requirements for gaining STARs, like mandatory Town Hall attendance and strengthening advocacy for smaller organizations.
Malka acknowledged the challenges of earning STAR status and suggested making participation requirements more accessible, like lessening the community service initiatives required.
In the rebuttal segment, Malka criticized the current TSG administration, alleging it violated its own constitution four times.
“I’m curious what the specific instances are,” said Alisa Pryor, a current TSG elections commissioner. “I wish she would’ve gone further into detail, instead of putting out criticizing blanket statements.”
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