Cañon thanked students for sharing their concerns with her. She said she is committed to restoring Fresno State’s engagement and community.

Hassan said she thinks she is the right person for the role due to her work ethic and dedication. She said students need someone who is bold and who will resist when necessary, and she has already done that during her time as a senator.

Prado said social mobility and financial help are the priorities of her campaign. She thanked students, the university and the community for the experiences they have given her.

Cañon said campus information needs to be made accessible to students, and she wants to go out and directly promote information to the student body. She said she wants to advocate for what is important to students.

Hassan said her campaign has been student-centered. She said her slate has been asked face-to-face questions in classrooms about their concerns on campus.

Prado said she values transparency and advocacy. She said her involvement in all eight colleges on campus has given her a broader perspective that shares the greater needs of the student body.

Cañon said speaking with administrators is intimidating, but she has experience in not being fearful of them. She brought up President Saúl Jiménez-Sandoval ’s salary increases, despite the rise of student fees.

Hassan said being in a room with administration is difficult, but that there is a reason she is there. She said the ASI president represents the student body and should have the decision-making power. She said she won’t back down to the administration.

Prado said that, since students place their trust in ASI presidents, it is their responsibility to uphold their voices and concerns. She said she will speak candidly on behalf of the student body.

Cañon said that her main priority is student engagement and community. She shared that during her early years, she was not as active on campus, and that had a negative effect on her studies.

Prado pointed to real-time advocacy and said students deserve to be heard.

Hassan said that her campaign isn’t all-encompassing, but she is always open to hearing out those who disagree. She wants to incorporate more student issues into what she is running for.

Cañon said every student deserves to feel secure in their learning environment. She pointed to a Collegian article that discusses the university’s lack of preparation in the event of a school shooting. She said it is up to ASI to present these solutions.

Hassan said safety is a priority. She said students in Greek Life should have a proper channel of communication if they feel unsafe. This extends to non-Greek Life situations as well, like walking along on campus at night.

Prado said ASI should advocate for student safety and should be open to students. She said she would go with students or direct them to the proper people in order to resolve any issues they have.

Cañon said this issue ties into the concern of safety on campus. She said that whatever safety looks like to a student should be heard. Opening up student forums to hear what the student body has to say is key in this process.

Hassan said advocacy is a huge factor when it comes to addressing issues like retaliation and fraud. She said mediation is necessary to find solutions.

Prado said being able to speak with students firsthand is best, but she mentioned that ASI presidents meet with the university president, who can also help address these issues.

Cañon said diversity is a part of Fresno State’s strength. This includes diverse ideas and opinions that she will hear out and try to find solutions for.

Hassan said that criticism is to be expected, since the ASI president is a representative for roughly 25,000 students. She said she is open to constructive criticism in order to improve the student experience.

Prado said she wants to accept feedback and make changes based on it. She said that students have come to her in the past with criticism about campus life, and she has taken it into account and created projects from it.

Rebuttal:

Hassan said she has received criticism in the past, including racist comments, from her pushback against an ASI action item to allocate roughly $16,000 to fund a New York Times subscription.

Prado said perspective is valuable. Her large reach of student organizations has helped her find different perspectives all around campus, which she aims to give a voice to.

Cañon said it is important to listen to the various diverse perspectives on campus, in order to create impact and respect on campus.

Cañon said that not many past ASI presidents have focused on building and fostering community. This includes having student incentives to attend games and other events.

Hassan said she wants to prioritize advocacy in everything she does, and she thinks ASI should have a centralized area where students can come to them with concerns.

Prado said resource partnerships are something she wants to continue looking into, so students are able to get help to the fullest potential. She mentioned her efforts this year in ASI with connecting with campus officials to increase collaboration.

Cañon mentioned that there is no quick fix to deal with the parking issue. She pointed out that the students aren’t aware of the public transit resources Fresno State offers, which is why promoting that information is a main goal.

Hassan said that historically, ASI candidates have run on parking but with no results. She said helping in other ways would be more effective. This includes splitting up the payment of the $90 parking pass.

Prado said her proposal to provide more parking for students was denied by the campus. She mentioned that parking is an issue that is hard to fix, so she pivoted to promoting and aiding the Bulldog Express.

Cañon said there are so many fees students must pay, and tuition is expensive. She pointed to the cost of graduation and said she wants to ensure that students know exactly where their money is going.

Hassan said ASI is built on transparency, and her campaign is also built on it. She said students will see where their money is going throughout her term as president.

Prado said prior experiences in other programs have helped her a lot with learning how to be transparent with fees. She said that student feedback is something that will help with the transparency of student fees.

Rebuttal:

Hassan also said students need to know where their money is going, and pointed to ways of including student voices, like conducting surveys and talking to students. She said that, during her campaign, students have come to her with issues, such as infrastructure, and she intends to focus on those.

Prado mentioned introducing a monthly newsletter to send to the student body to aid with transparency and information dissemination.

Cañon said that after tabling, she found that students are not aware of events and resources on campus. She wants to make a centralized social media or website that has all of said resources readily available and visible for students.

Cañon said the lack of community is the biggest issue. She went back to the lack of IRA funds and how she has seen the lack of attendance at baseball games and at the Save Mart Center.

Hassan said basic needs like food insecurity, textbook vouchers and other costs are something she thinks the school needs to expand — from the Amendola Family Student Cupboard to the Parent Scholars Program.

Prado said that basic needs are important to her and pointed to her work with the Student Cupboard and the Basic Needs Office. She wants to put more microwaves around campus, bus stops and advocate for more frequent bus stops.

Rebuttal:

Cañon said Fresno State already provides many resources, and the main issue is the lack in promoting these resources. She said that, instead of spending more money on adding services, students must be made aware of what the campus has to offer.

Hassan said resources are still a priority, so students don’t have to decide between food and education.

Prado said the essential needs office provides meals for students, and continuing IRA leadership is important.

Cañon said she is committed to balance. This means dividing the workload among all ASI members and not relying on one individual. She said this goes hand in hand with building student engagement by working together to tackle on-campus issues.

Hassan said she would drop her other commitments, internships and part-time jobs to be ASI president.

Prado said she loves serving students and mentioned her life goal of being a dean of a college. She said experienced leadership will help her balance the workload.

Cañon is a part of the moot court, which she said has helped her argue for various issues. She said she wants to advocate for student issues with her skills gained in moot court.

Hassan pointed to her volunteer work with elementary schools and the social work organization, in which she serves as vice president.

Prado is a part of over 15 organizations. Kappa Alpha Theta is one she is proud of. She discussed her experience with the Ronald McDonald fund, which serves families with sick children.

Cañon said transparency goes back to providing students with the resources to know what’s going on on campus. She wants to promote ASI meetings more, so students can know what goes into decision-making on campus.

Hassan said transparency is important to her. She said it will be a priority to let students know how their fees are being used.

Prado said she wants to serve students. Bulldog Voices is an advocacy platform that she launched. She mentioned that paid internships are a key part in helping students get their way through college, and transparency helps highlight which other issues students face.

Cañon said student engagement is one of the biggest issues. She said 60% of clubs had IRA funding denied, which affected student engagement on campus.

Hassan said affordability is one of the biggest issues. Rising tuition costs, rising gas prices and other financial strains affect students.

Prado said class availability is a major issue affecting students on campus, and it is delaying students’ ability to graduate within four years.

Cañon said she wants to increase resource availability and work closely with Greek life, athletics and other organizations to increase campus event turnout. She emphasized promoting engagement.

Hassan said she has enjoyed her time in ASI as senator for the College of Health and Human Services. She wants to continue to bring tangible change, promote affordability, free vending machines and other services that will help students financially.

Prado emphasized the importance of the ASI president’s role and pointed to her past achievements in ASI as executive vice president.

With roughly 20 minutes until the debate starts, Cañon, a junior political science major, told The Collegian she wants to emphasize student engagement.

“I want to bring the real sense of community back to Fresno State,” Cañon said. “I’m going to get more people at our sporting events. I want to put on more events that students actually want to go to.”

Prado, a first-year grad student majoring in agricultural science, said her priority is real-time advocacy.

“I think representation is only impactful when it’s accurate and when it has many perspectives,” Prado said.

Hassan, a senior who will be beginning a social work graduate program, said she wants to highlight affordability.

“I think [affordability] is burning on students’ minds right now,” Hassan said. “The more I’ve been campaigning, the more it keeps coming up … we need to promote affordability.”