Gabriel Levin ’26, The Sun’s editor in chief, interviewed the two executive vice presidential candidates about their backgrounds and vision for the Student Assembly in a panel on Tuesday, April 16.
Adam Vinson ’25, the current college of agriculture and life sciences representative, and Karys Everett ’25, the current LGBTQIA+ liaison at-large, are running for EVP.
Voting and campaigning for the S.A. elections opened Sunday, April 14, and will close at 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, April 21.
Editor’s Note: This transcript has been edited for concision and clarity.
Gabe Levin: Everybody knows you are [both] running for executive vice president, which is a very important position, driving a lot of policy on the S.A. So, I’m going to have a few questions about your backgrounds on the S.A., what you hope to accomplish and some concerns from students as well.
Let’s start with a question for both of you. What is your message to students and why are you running for S.A. executive vice president?
Adam Vinson: Well, I’d say that my message overall is that I feel the Assembly can be doing a lot more to help students and that we have the resources to do so. We need candidates who are running specifically to focus on getting those resources into the right hands. I think something that has been mentioned before in this debate is the Infrastructure Fund. I feel that it’s been completely underutilized. I want to start by using some of those funds to fix minor inconveniences that students face all the time on campus, such as broken water fountains, broken toilets and broken bathroom stalls, and move on from there to larger projects.
I also think that we should be expanding some of the products that we already have on the S.A. that students like, like the free New York Times subscription. I believe that we should try and push for it to be expanded to New York Times games. There [are] a lot of other things that we can push for. Shared governance is very important, and not a lot of people know about it. We have access to groups like the Faculty Senate, the University Assembly and the Graduate and Professional Student Assembly, and we can work with them on projects. [A] big thing I want to push for is talking with the Faculty Senate about seeing if we can, for next year, have the final study period extended by a few days. At the current moment, I feel it’s way too short, and it just kind of crushes students. So giving them more time would make things much better for the people on campus.
As an [assembly member] I’ve represented CALS. I’ve mainly focused on two things — student issues and environmental issues. I’ve collaborated with student assemblies across the state to push for better suicide prevention laws. I have worked with the administration to help protect endangered species on campus. I want to keep doing that.
Gabe Levin: We’re gonna do one minute 30 seconds. I might put more time for more difficult questions, but for now, sorry for not telling you [before], 1:30. All right. So the same question to you [Everett], what is your message to students and why are you running for S.A. executive vice president?
Karys Everett: My message to students overall is that I care. My campaign has started with my slogan, “Karys Cares,” and it’s because I hold that deeply and I’ve worked toward that consistently. I really appreciated hearing the representatives say that S.A. members need to care about the people that they’re representing because that’s exactly what I did when I served for the past few years as the LGBTQIA+ liaison.
When I was petitioning, the first thing I asked students was, “If I was elected, what would you like to see.” Many queer students asked for more queer therapy. They wanted more queer housing. They wanted more representation on campus and more queer spaces. And so when I was elected, I went straight to the LGBT resource center, and I was like, “Hey, these are problems that students are having.” And they were like, “Oh my God, that’s so crazy, because these things already exist.” We found out that the root of that problem was that the administration wasn’t doing enough of their due diligence to ensure that students knew about these resources. At the time there were over 400 anti-queer bills that were being introduced in the U.S. So, I ensured that the first resolution I passed was to hold the University more responsible for making these identity-based resources, specifically the queer identity-based resources on campus, known.
In my second year on the Assembly, I worked with Haven, [the LGBTQ student union], to ensure that they would get an exemption from the byline funding rules because it required that all byline-funded organizations list all of their members. For Haven, a queer org, that means outing their members. So we had to ensure that even if it made Haven have less funding, there were other ways outside of violating the purview of the organization [to get] the things that they needed.
Gabe Levin: Okay, so now another question. We’ll start with you again, Adam … I’m gonna give you two minutes for this, we’re gonna switch it up a little bit because I feel like this is a longer question.
What has your greatest accomplishment been on the S.A., and what do you hope your next greatest accomplishment could be if you’re elected executive vice president?
Adam Vinson: So, first question, I’d say there [are] two. There’s the aforementioned work that I did with several student assemblies across the state. So a bit of a backstory on that. I was reached out to by someone who was on the SUNY [The State University of New York] Stony Brook Student Assembly and basically said, “So, we have a big problem with New York state’s current suicide prevention laws. They’re passing a new law that’s really great and would basically mandate suicide prevention plans in schools for K-12 students. However, it doesn’t cover universities and doesn’t cover colleges. We need to change that, and we want to push for an amendment to … this legislation.” So they were getting student assemblies across the state to basically make these statements in favor of it. I worked directly with a bunch of different student assemblies, [and] we wrote something up.
It was very important that we got it done here too because we were the only university at the time to pass this kind of resolution in favor of this that was outside of New York City and Long Island. More importantly, our state senator was on the committee that was deciding whether to add this amendment, which I believe was added very recently. I’m very proud of that.
The other big thing I’m really proud of is restructuring the S.A. Environmental Committee. I ran uncontested for the chair of it. One of the first things I did was I decided that we were going to hold their meeting in the open, in public, at [Temple of] Zeus Cafe, from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m., [and] anyone can go and anyone can show up. Since then, the other thing I’ve been doing is constantly pushing for us to have collaboration with all the different constituent groups that should be working with the Environmental Committee and weren’t in the past. No one really knew about us, no one was working with us, and so I spent days just emailing different groups and we’ve been collaborating on different projects. It’s been very great, and I’m very happy about it.
Something I really want to do, and the power of vice president helps, is [to make] sure that other committees have to adopt that structure of having to do things out in the open. The vice president gets a seat on every single committee. Essentially, I want to push for all committees to meet in open areas rather than in classrooms with closed doors.
Gabe Levin: Okay, and I’m going to ask the same question to you. Two minutes. Again, if you go a little bit over, it’s okay. Just finish your thought. What has your greatest accomplishment been in your time on the S.A.? And what do you hope that your greatest accomplishment could be going forward if you’re elected executive vice president?
Karys Everett: Right, so just continuing the thought, [I] got Haven that exemption for byline funding. And then, additionally, I’ve been working with the Infrastructure Committee to get more gender-neutral bathrooms on campus. The reality for a lot of students on campus is that their needs are not purely academic. There are a lot of students who require identity-based and targeted issues that need to be addressed for [those] students who don’t fall within their assigned gender at birth. It’s hard to study when you don’t have a place to pee in peace. This is an intersection with a lot of students who may have disabilities and need more access to single-occupancy stalls. And so in my working with the Infrastructure Committee, I’m hoping that we can get more single-stall occupancy bathrooms.
In addition to this, I’ve been called upon by a lot of the Palestinian and Muslim and Islamic diaspora students who feel incredibly underrepresented by the University at large. I’m hoping that, as V.P., I can overcome some of the main barriers that I faced in this year’s assembly — which was that the executive board understandably felt a little apprehensive about addressing some of these issues. But, as a student representative, even though it is my title to be the queer liaison at the end of the day, I understand that I’m a student-elected representative that needs to address the issues that I am called upon to address. That’s what I’ve been doing since October. I tried … again to pass the divestment resolution in February. And so my hope [is] that if I’m elected, students are calling on me to push the administration to divest from the war weaponry that we are currently invested in. And that’s what I hope to do. Because there are academic issues that need to be solved, but there are a lot of identity-based issues that a student cannot move through their day-to-day life without having addressed as well. I’m an activist before anything else. And so understanding and addressing these issues head-on — it’s very important to me. It’s hard for Black students to move through their day-to-day if they feel as though there are cops that are around the corner and armed. It’s hard for women to move through this world and Greek life and they feel as though you know they may face a central persecution. So my biggest goal is to represent the marginalized students.
Gabe Levin: Okay, now for the next question. I’m just gonna give one minute. And the question is: Why should a student vote for you over the other candidate? So Adam, if you can start.
Adam Vinson: I think we’re both good choices. But I guess my whole thing is that I have, sort of like specific set policies I want to get done that would just be very helpful for the broad student body. That’s sort of my main focus. Honestly, I don’t really want to frame my candidacy as like, “Oh, this is why I’m just better,” … I bring a unique set of opinions and views to the table more so. I feel that I can do a good job working with the administration to get things better, but I’m also going to pressure them. I feel that a lot of the stuff they’ve done has not been great. I don’t think that they’re meeting their goals with shared governance. I think that they’ve been completely avoiding working with the Assembly and that needs to stop. I’m looking forward to pressuring them whether I’m EVP or not on this issue.
Gabe Levin: So, not an easy question, but I’m going to ask the same question. Why should a student vote for you over the other candidate? One minute Karys.
Karys Everett: Look, like Mr. Vinson said, I mean, I don’t think it’s about who’s better, [but] I think it’s about what students are looking for. [For] me personally, my candidacy is framed around the fact that there are a lot of students who are out here worried about the [lab] beakers, worried about these academic issues that need to be fixed, but there are not a lot of members of the Assembly who are looking out for these socio-political factors that impact many students day-to-day life. I know someone personally who had to drop out of the University because they were queer and their parents found out and they were pulled out of school. You know, these are things that affect many students on campus. And while some may have the privilege to worry about purely academics, there are two big factors that pull a lot of students, which are their personal identity and the fact that they’re a Cornellian. So if students are looking for that socio-political advocate, I’m here and that’s what I’m willing to represent. And I think Mr. Vinson would do an incredible job in the V.P. role as well. Either way, I’m looking forward to continuing [to work] together on the assembly.
Gabe Levin: Okay, great. Now I’m gonna move on to my next questions, which are more individually focused about your track records and about, you know, addressing student concerns. So for this, I’m gonna give one minute and 30 seconds. We’re gonna start with Adam.
You are on the executive board of the Cornell Democrats. Now, this is a club that has come under scrutiny for apparently having had outsized influence on last year’s election. So how are you earning students’ trust who might be worried about the scale of the Cornell Democrats’ power in S.A. affairs?
Adam Vinson: Well, I should start by saying that the C-Dems at the current moment [has] a completely different e-board than last year. As in there’s not a single member from last year’s e-board that is still on there. We completely excised that part of Democrats from the organization. We’re a new club. I don’t plan on doing stuff for C-Dems. I never was doing stuff for C-Dems. When I was in Assembly, I was just doing it for my constituents and doing what I thought were the best kinds of policies. I’m gonna keep doing that. … I think I’ve had a good track record on this. I’m going to keep going for that specific track record. That’s all I have to say.
Gabe Levin: But you’re currently on C-Dems?
Adam Vinson: Yes.
Gabe Levin: How can you say you’re not doing stuff for C-Dems?
Adam Vinson: Well, I mean, they’re not going up to me and saying, “Oh, do this policy.”
Gabe Levin: Okay.
Adam Vinson: And that’s going to continue to be the case. I specifically tell them I’m on C-Dems. I’m on Assembly. And [I’m] making that a very separate thing.
Gabe Levin: Okay, great. Now, I’m going to ask a different question to you Karys. … You’ve been outspoken about the Israel-Hamas war and have called for divestment from various arms companies. So how will your perspectives on the two matters drive your policy positions? If you’re elected executive vice president, moreover, how do you plan to balance various perspectives on other contentious topics if you’re elected?
Karys Everett: Can you repeat the question?
Gabe Levin: Of course. You’ve been outspoken about the Israel-Hamas war and have called for divestment from arms companies. How will your perspectives on the two matters drive your policy positions? And how do you plan to balance various perspectives on other contentious topics if you’re elected?
Karys Everett: So foundationally, my issues are with violence. I just outright do not believe that an academic institution should be invested in war weaponry. I don’t think that it’s appropriate for an academic institution to be profiting and have monetary progress from violence and from war. I believe that my stance on the Israel-Hamas war is that there are innocent civilians being killed, period. And by Cornell being invested in this war weaponry, they continue to perpetuate that on both sides. And so whenever there is violence being perpetuated, and whenever our University has any sort of monetary profit from it, I’m going to advocate against it. In any situation and with any group. I think that it’s very real that antisemitism has risen over hundreds of percentages, and I think it’s the same for individuals in the Islamic diaspora. I think that people treating this as a “yes but” rather than a “yes and” conversation to acknowledge the suffering that students are going through is incredibly harmful. And although I stand and advocate and support the students of the Islamic diaspora, it’s because the University has been doing their due diligence and ensuring that the antisemitism on campus is being addressed. And if that starts to fall short, then I will be sure to advocate for my Jewish brothers and sisters as well.
Gabe Levin: Okay. Now on to my last question for executive vice presidential candidates. Now, I’m gonna give two minutes for this because this is a complex question. There are many different avenues you can answer. But, Adam, we’ll start with you. Two minutes. Many students and faculty from all over the political spectrum at Cornell are worried about the state of our shared governance system. What is the state of Cornell’s shared government system in your opinion, and what steps will you take to address student concerns about the strength of Cornell’s shared governance system?
Adam Vinson: So right now, I’d say the shared governance system is not in the best state it could be, but it’s not irreparable. I think that through collaboration between the different assemblies, we can rebuild it and make it stronger than it ever was. In order for this to all work, we have to sort of work together. And that way, the admin can’t ignore us because that’s where the problem is. It’s not just we’re having difficulty collaborating, [or that the] Faculty Senate isn’t listening to S.A. It’s that we just have one group that’s not participating. And I think that if we all come together, [and] we push back against it, they’re gonna have to give a seat at the table once again. That’s what I have to say.
Karys Everett: So I think, unfortunately, the state of our shared governance system is a little poor right now. Understandably, … it’s been a hard year for a lot of students, and I think students that are in leadership positions, as is the S.A., are finding a hard time leveraging the voices of students, their own personal goals that they’re trying to push forward and having admin in our ear constantly. But I think that it’s important to … sorry, can you repeat the question, the last bit of the question?
Gabe Levin: Sure. So what steps are you going to take to address student concerns about the strength of Cornell’s shared governance system? I’ll give you fifteen more seconds.
Karys Everett: So partially, you know, I plan on continuing to do what I’ve been doing. All of my resolutions and my policies have been direct consequences of me speaking with students and figuring out what they need. I think that any member of the Assembly would know that you feel the most productive when you’re acting directly within the capacity of your constituents. I would look forward to having the V.P. role so that in addition to being able to talk to students, I can talk to administration directly about the issues that students are sharing. And I think that as our new members are voted in, they’re going to find a lot of productivity in speaking with their students and being able to bring it to the assembly and working on it head-on.
Gabe Levin: Okay, great. So with that, we’ll conclude the executive vice presidential debates. Great job guys.