The Student Government Association at UNCW has long served as an opportunity for students to get involved at the university and step up to serve their campus community. Each spring, students are given the opportunity to campaign for a variety of roles within SGA—the top roles being president and vice president of the administration. However, the candidates have never been given the opportunity to debate with one another and share their platforms in a formal setting.
Until now.
On March 12, UNCW held its first-ever SGA presidential candidate debate between the three presidential candidates: Russia Naranjo, Zoe Phillips and Jansen Huff. The event was hosted and filmed by Teal TV and moderated by Lee Danks, president of UNCW’s Dialectic and Ethikos Parliamentary Society. The three candidates were asked a variety of questions that touched on topics such as their platforms, qualifications for the position and goals for their administration. Each candidate was given 90 seconds for their response and 45 seconds for a rebuttal.
Here are some of the key debate takeaways about each administration that students should know before casting their vote on Monday, March 16.
The Naranjo-Grossheim Administration: “We’ll serve, so you can SOAR”
The Naranjo-Grossheim Administration is made up of current sophomore Russia Naranjo and current junior Laura Grossheim. Naranjo is a Public Policy and Administration major, with minors in Campaign Management and Political Entrepreneurship and Leadership. The Naranjo-Grossheim administration’s campaign platform rests on the acronym SOAR, which stands for student-oriented advocacy representation. During the debate, Naranjo emphasized her and Grossheim’s commitment to advocacy for the student body and its needs.
“We want no Seahawk to go unrepresented. So, we want to represent you,” Naranjo stated in her opening statement.
When asked what sets her apart from the other two candidates, Naranjo drew attention to her leadership experience, including serving as SGA Freshman Class President for the class of 2028 her freshman year, her current position on the Chancellor’s Student Advisory Council, her job as a Desk Receptionist in Loggerhead Hall and her role as an Orientation Leader this upcoming summer.
In describing her leadership style, Naranjo stated
Later in the debate, Naranjo stressed her and Grossheim’s commitment to treating their presidency as more than just a title or resume booster, but as an opportunity to connect with students and speak for their needs.
In terms of goals for her presidency, Naranjo hopes to digitize student OneCards and increase student awareness of the opportunities available to them — including within SGA. Naranjo emphasized that SGA is more than just a club; it is an important organization on campus that allocates funding to all registered student organizations. When asked about how she would work with these registered student organizations, Naranjo stated that her and Grossheim hope to hold open office hours where students can come to them with any questions or concerns.
When it was pointed out by Phillips and Huff that these office hours already exist, Naranjo countered that many students do not know that this opportunity is available to them and stated that her and Grossheim want to work to educate students about this opportunity. This connects back to the Naranjo-Grossheim administration’s goal of increasing student awareness about all the resources UNCW has to offer.
In her closing statement, Naranjo highlighted her and Grossheim’s commitment to working for and alongside the student body. Together, the Naranjo-Grossheim administration plans to work for the students’ best interests rather than their own.
“We are true advocates at heart. We are ready for these roles, and we are excited for these roles,” Naranjo said.
The Phillips-Brady Administration: “HAWK”
The Phillips-Brady administration consists of current junior Zoe Phillips and her vice-presidential candidate Paul Brady. Phillips is a Public Health major, with a concentration in Global Health. She is also minoring in Political Entrepreneurship and Leadership. The Phillips-Brady administration is running on the platform HAWK, an acronym which stands for Harmony, Advocacy, Wellness and Known.
When asked what set her apart from the other candidates, Phillips spoke of the difference between her and her running mate, Brady, and how those differences complimented one another.
“He keeps me in check all the time, and I think he was the best partner that I could have asked for,” she stated, “And personally, for me, I think, that I have more of the empathy side, I have more of the talkative side. I just love to talk to people. I love to talk to students. I love to talk to faculty, and I think that every conversation we ever have, you need to learn something from.”
Later in talking about her leadership style, Phillips expanded on these differences. She described Brady as an organized leader, and herself as a community-oriented leader. Phillips stated that these leadership styles will mesh well together to help their administration accomplish its goals.
In describing her goals as president, Phillips emphasized the importance of communicating with students through more than social media or email. She stated that her and Brady plan to attend SGA tabling events themselves, rather relying on other members of SGA to do this.
When asked how she would work with student organizations on campus, Phillips highlighted how important building relationships with students is to her, aligning with her earlier statements about being a community-oriented leader. Phillips also explained that she and Brady are focused on helping organizations get the funding they need. They want to make sure they are properly communicating with each organization and working to meet their specific needs.
In her closing statements, Phillips encouraged students to always reach out no matter what, not just through social media or email, but to her and Brady personally. She also spoke of the importance of embracing the differences among one another and remembering that we are all people who want UNCW to be the best that it can be.
“We all want UNCW to be great. We all want UNCW to be the school that it can be. And the Phillips-Brady administration will do that,” she stated.
The Huff-Stringfield Administration: “LEAD”
The Huff-Stringfield administration includes current sophomore Jansen Huff, and his vice-presidential candidate Kyra Stringfield. Huff is a Political Science major with minors in Pre-Law, Leadership and Campaign Management. Huff and Stringfield are running on the acronym LEAD: Listen, Engage, Act and Deliver.
At several points throughout the debate, Huff highlighted his current role as the director of marketing on SGA. Prior to holding this role, Huff served as freshman class senator. He stated that these two years of experience on SGA is what sets him apart from his fellow candidates. Huff also drew attention to Stringfield’s two years of experience in SGA.
Huff described his leadership style as punctual and organized, stating that he is not someone who sugarcoats things. “I’m not a person to get frustrated or flustered, and I make sure that everything is done properly and it has its place,” he said.
When speaking about his goals as president, Huff said one of his primary initiatives is building a pedestrian bridge across college road from the park-and-ride lot to the entrance of campus. Huff also stated that he would like to see more campus traditions form, since the university does not have as many well-known traditions as other universities. Like both Naranjo and Phillips, Huff also spoke of wanting to form better connections with student organizations on campus.
“I would love to sit down with every RSO president and speak about their clubs or their organizations to understand where they are coming from and how we can help them” Huff stated.
Like Naranjo, Huff also drew attention to the effort to digitize OneCards, stating that initiative is something SGA has been attempting to do for several years and that he and Stringfield hope to accomplish this during their time as SGA leaders.
When asked what his major platforms as a candidate are, Huff responded that out of the four letters in the acronym LEAD, act and deliver are the two most important. Huff stated that act and deliver is what allows things to happen and allows him and Stringfield to put the concerns of students into action and deliver results.
In his closing statement, Huff again drew attention to his experience level in SGA and why that makes him the most ideal choice for President. He also highlighted Stringfield’s current position as President Pro-Tempore, which makes her third in command of the Senate and well versed in SGA’s statutes and bylaws.
“I think after this debate the choice is very clear; Kyra and I bring the most experience to this role,” Huff stated.
Addressing political tension on campus: A theme of the 2025-2026 academic year
In addition to being asked questions about their platforms, leadership qualities, their goals and their qualifications, each candidate was asked a question that reflects a major theme at UNCW during the 2025-2026 academic year.
“With the spirit rock incident last September, how would you address political tensions on campus in the future?”
Answering first, Huff stated, “Well, not to make a joke out of the subject matter, but I would love to see that rock gone. I think a lot of students on campus would agree with me on that.”
Huff also said that he supports the reservation policy that is currently in place and highlighted his role in the current administration, who advocated for students during the events of September.
“I was up at one in the morning making those statements released online and that students saw firsthand. That’s when we got the news on our Instagram page. I think students finally recognized who SGA was and what we do after those events,” he said.
Huff also later clarified that he fully supports freedom of expression and commended the current administration’s actions to make sure student voices are heard.
Next to respond was Naranjo, who stated that she and Grossheim intend to emphasize the importance of free expression, but also the importance of politeness and cordial behavior. Naranjo also disagreed with Huff’s stance on removing the rock.
The last to answer was Phillips, who cited students’ lack of respect for one another. She said it is important to learn to respect one’s peers, because without different opinions we would not be a diverse society. Phillips stated that her administration would actively vocalize the importance of respect and draw attention to policies in place that protect freedom of expression.
Voting for the 2026-2027 SGA President and Vice President opens at 9 a.m. on Monday March 16 and closes at 3 p.m. on Thursday March 19.
For more information about voting and each of the candidates, read The Seahawk’s interview by Sophie Barton here.
