With only one ticket running in the Ball State Student Government Association (SGA) 2025 spring election, the presidential debate turned into a Q&A session with the sole presidential candidate, Chelsea Murdock.
The event, held Feb. 11 in room 120 of the Teacher’s College, allowed Murdock to engage directly with students in the audience, highlight her ticket’s platform points and address current campus issues.
Running under the “Momentum” ticket with vice presidential candidate Shaina Miller, Murdock focused on key areas, including student safety, mental health advocacy, sustainability, transportation transparency and creating a stronger sense of belonging on campus.
Murdock began the session by discussing the importance of continuing SGA’s partnership with Ball State’s Office of Health, Promotion and Advocacy, particularly in supporting initiatives like Red Zone programming and Sexual Assault Awareness Month. She explained that the Red Zone — the first six to 12 weeks of the fall semester — is when incidents of sexual violence are more likely to occur on college campuses.
“Our goal is to make sure that all students when they get on campus, are informed about these things and know the resources that we already have to advocate for [themselves] or for someone who is important to them,” Murdock said.
Additionally, Murdock expressed a strong desire to revive Suicide Prevention Week, a program that has not been active in recent years.
“Mental health is a huge issue on our campus and across the country, so we want to make sure that we’re accurately advocating for all students by providing them information about suicide prevention week through SGA, as well as different resources that they can utilize,” Murdock said.
Addressing student concerns about removing the TransLoc campus bus tracking app, Murdock said, “I know TransLoc definitely had an impact on all of us when it went away. I know some of it probably wasn’t incredibly expected, and I completely resonate with that.”
She proposed short-term solutions, such as enhancing the visibility of Charlie’s Charter to improve student safety.
“An actionable safety thing Shaina and I would want to enact if elected will be making sure that we post the license plate of that van on our school website, as well as making sure we have the pictures of the drivers posted on our school website,” Murdock said, hoping this would help students know who to look for.
On sustainability, she discussed having more accessible drop-off points for the ReusePass system in the Atrium, where students can rent a reusable food container to be brought back in three days.
“Accessibility can be a huge barrier to sustainability. So as we work towards making sure ReusePasss is something that’s more commonplace on our campus, we want to make sure that they’re doing that in an accessible way that is simpler for [students],” she said.
Addressing diversity, equity and inclusion concerns, Murdock said, “These times can be very trying, and they can be incredibly scary. In the midst of that, if elected, [our] goal is to make sure that we are best advocating for you wherever we may be.”
She proposed recognizing student leaders from diverse backgrounds through a “Visible Leadership” initiative.
“Our goal with this is to make sure that regardless of what may be happening on a federal level or on our state level, our Ball State students know that they are seen and that their hard work is appreciated,” Murdock said.
She stressed the importance of transparent communication, proposing the live streaming of senate meetings.
“If you can’t see the change being made, you don’t feel the change being made and I resonate with that,” she said.
She discussed plans for “mobile roundtables” as well, where students have designated times to visit and voice their feelings and complaints so the administration can best advocate for what students need.
“Oftentimes, I’m walking down the street just like the rest of you. Stop me. Tell me what you’re thinking. Tell me what’s going on. Let’s have these conversations,” she said.
In her closing statement, Murdock reflected on the legacy she hopes to leave as SGA president.
“The legacy of the student body president sits in the legacy of the student body making real change on campus, seeing the impacts of initiatives that students have wanted to happen,” she said.
She encouraged students to vote, saying, “Your vote is your voice, and ultimately, what we can do with the student voice is enact change.”
The vice presidential debate will occur on Feb. 13 at 5:30 p.m. in room 120 of the Teacher’s College.
Contact Meghan Braddy via email at meghan.braddy@bsu.edu or on X @meghan_braddy.
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