Student government circles extend beyond politics
By ERIN LaRUFFA
Associate News Editor
When the four tickets running in Notre Dame's student body election face off at tonight's debate, the candidates will not just be debating opposing platforms — they will be debating against people they consider friends.
In fact, most of the candidates knew each other long before the current campaign started and have worked together extensively.
As freshman, four of the candidates — Nikki McCord, Brian Moscona and the ticket of Libby Bishop and Trip Foley — served together on the Class of 2003's class council.
"Our freshman class advisor told us that it had been several years since he'd seen a group come together and bond the way we did," said McCord. "We're all friends."
Since freshman year, the four have met in other capacities as well. For example, McCord is currently on the Student Senate, which Moscona chairs in his role as student body vice president.
For Bishop and Foley, running together for student body president and vice president represents the first time that the two are not opponents in an election.
"We ran against each other for freshman class treasurer, and I beat her. Then, we ran against each other for sophomore class council, and she beat me. And now we're running together," said Foley.
On the other hand, for Bishop and Moscona, running against each other is a new experience. The two ran together for sophomore class council, he as president and she as vice president. Their ticket won.
So this fall when Bishop and Foley first discussed running together, Bishop, who was studying in London at the time, felt it only natural to call Moscona before making a decision.
"I called Brian Moscona because we had always run together and I wanted to be honest with him," Bishop said. Although Bishop never "directly asked" him to run with her, the two "discussed it as a possibility," Moscona said.
"I congratulated her on being asked [by Foley] and then told her that I wasn't going to think about it until Christmas break, but if I eventually did decide to run I probably would not ask her to be my running mate," said Moscona. "I didn't think we had the same vision for what student government should be."
Bishop agreed that she and Moscona wanted to present different platforms.
"We both have different ideas about what we want for student government," she said. "It wasn't a surprise that we didn't run together."
Like Bishop and Moscona, vice presidential candidates Nick Williams and Keri Oxley are also accustomed to running together. After first meeting on their freshman class council last year, Williams and Oxley decided to run together for their sophomore class council. They won, and so Oxley and Williams currently work together as president and vice president, respectively, of the class of 2004.
"I felt like it was a compliment to our class that Nick and I were both asked to run," said Oxley, who is running with Moscona. Both Oxley and Williams described their friendship as "close," something they keep in mind when campaigning.
"Since she's a friend of mine, we decided we would be very open with each other," said Williams, adding that he also considers Moscona to be a close friend.
"Keri and Brian were two of the first people I told when I decided to [run with McCord]," said Williams. When they were sophomore class officers, Moscona and Bishop served as advisors to the freshman class council, which is how the two met Oxley and Williams.
Running mates Scott Palko and P.J. Mercanti, who primarily have been involved with activities outside of student government, have not worked with any of their opponents, although both said they consider Bishop to be a friend.
With each of the candidates having friends and colleagues running, the candidates stress that professionalism is important.
"It's not an issue because you've worked with the person in the past and you know you can respect them," Foley said. "Everyone's been very professional."
"I don't see this campaign as a personal thing. I have a tremendous amount of respect for all of the other candidates," Moscona said.
However, some candidates have found it a challenge to run against people they know.
"It does make it a little more emotional," said Bishop. "Sometimes it's hard because their campaign and their platform is always going to affect you more."
For Williams and Oxley, one challenge did arise they were putting together their campaign staffs.
"Some of our social circles are the same, so whenever I told someone I was running, I told them Keri was running, too," Williams said. "I never wanted to put my friends in a position to choose between us."
Some of Oxley and Williams's mutual friends have decided not to get involved in either campaign, according to Williams, while others have agreed to put up posters for both candidates.
"It's a little awkward at times, but she's such a good friend," said Williams.
All News Stories for Wednesday, February 6, 2002
