TSG Elections: A Q&A with ListenTU Bloom TU
Bloom TU’s Quinn Litsinger (left) and ListenTU’s Joseph Crespo (right)
By Rebekah Harding
Temple Student Government campaign season kicked off on Thursday with a debate between presidential candidates Joseph Crespo of ListenTU and Quinn Litsinger of Bloom TU. REFINE sat down with both TSG presidential candidates (on the phone ‘cause social distancing… duh!) to get the scoop on their campaign.
Disclaimer: This interview has been condensed and edited for style and length.
Why did you run for TSG president?
Crespo: I wanted to run because I wanted to make a difference on campus. In my own experience as a first-gen, low-income college student, as I’ve lived on and off campus, and as I’ve been an RA, I’ve become aware of the issues on campus.
Litsinger: I really enjoyed my time with TSG as director of government affairs and I had so many ideas on how to bring about change that went beyond my position.
What inspired the name of your campaign?
Crespo: I decided to go with ListenTU because I thought that it would let students know that we’re taking their voices into consideration and that we have initiatives that directly impact what they want to be done on campus.
Litsinger: Our graphic designer Alley Tuttelman came up with it when she was thinking of visuals. It really resonated with the rest of the team because of the strong message it extends about growth and blossoming change around campus. It has really positive visuals and messages behind it.
Some students have expressed frustration with how the current TSG administration is addressing the changes on campus due to the COVID-19 outbreak. What will ListenTU/BloomTU be doing differently from the current TSG in terms of crisis leadership?
Crespo: We would be releasing resources immediately like food relief, housing relief, and working with the city on rent freezes and pushing back rent. We would work with students in North Philadelphia to make sure that the communities that are most impacted get the help they need.
Litsinger: We would encourage transparency because, as far as I know, TSG right now is doing a lot of behind-the-scenes work. It shouldn’t be like that. If we were in office, we would hold student referendums to provide data to the university on student feedback on issues like pass/fail grading, postponing commencement and refunding certain fees.
In our Fall issue, we covered sustainability on campus and around Philadelphia. How will you advocate for an environmentally conscious campus community?
Crespo: I know not every off-campus housing unit has a trash can or recycling bin, so we would love to work with the city and the Office of Sustainability to make sure everyone has access to one. We want to encourage accountability by implementing block captains and take pride in where we live. We need to recognize that we are occupying North Philadelphia. This is not our community, we are in someone else’s community. It’s our temporary residence so we need to take the extra steps to respect our neighbors.
Litsinger: Bringing about the conversation on fossil fuel divestment goes way beyond divesting. Getting the entire student body behind that movement would be really impactful. Beyond that, our sustainability plan extends past divestment. We want to continue the work of Kathryn Lyons, the current TSG director of grounds and sustainability, to advocate for reduced fees for SEPTA passes. A lot of students that live off-campus aren’t aware that the city offers free recycling bins and we will be making students aware that they can go downtown to get one.
We will also be opposing new construction on campus for buildings that would not be carbon-neutral and expanding locally sourced dining options.
REFINE is covering “rejection” for our Spring issue. Can you tell me about a time when you experienced rejection and how that impacted your life at Temple or inspired you to run for TSG President?
Crespo: I was not completely “out” before I came to Temple University and that is why I am authentic in all that I do here. As a business student, I understand that I am not in the majority in my school. I make sure that I have a voice in the spaces that I occupy and I think it’s important to educate on things like intersectionality and lead with authenticity. I feel like I have the credentials and the background to do this.
Litsinger: One of the times I experienced rejection was when I was applying to colleges. Ultimately, I feel like no one really knows what to expect when they’re applying and the decision usually comes down to arbitrary factors that you have no control over. But if I hadn’t gotten rejected from those other schools, I wouldn’t have found my home at Temple. It was the best thing that could have happened to me.
What sets you apart from your opponent? What are your campaign’s strengths?
Crespo: We advocate for free menstrual products, which BloomTU doesn’t. I also think our platform is sensible, reactive, and something we can do next year. We want the majority of our initiatives to be realistic within the time we would be in office, and push initiatives that can impact students right now, especially due to COVID-19.
Litsinger: I think what sets us apart from ListenTU is that we have executable plans. Talk is great, but at the end of the day, action is what separates a decent campaign from a great campaign. We have step-by-step plans on our platform that you can check out. At the end of the day, listening to the student body is something that every student government administration should be doing.
What initiatives are at the forefront of your campaign? Why are these important to students?
Crespo: We’re pushing for mental health awareness and a mental health hotline and free menstrual products in all bathrooms. I’m also really excited about the off-campus cleaning taskforce where campus organizations and off-campus students could come together to clean up campus— we should take accountability and clean up after ourselves.
Litsinger: Right off the bat, fossil fuel divestment is the hardest hitting issue. Climate change knows no boundaries. Accountability is another big thing on our platform. Civic engagement is something that I’m really passionate about and we will be pushing for a polling place on campus for upcoming elections.
Do you have any tools for the student body to hold TSG accountable on your initiatives?
Crespo: I would release my platform and initiatives on the TSG website and highlight these as much as we can on our Instagram. A lot of people don’t know about the TSG programming and it doesn’t reach a lot of students who aren’t involved already, so we want to maximize the reach. We’ll let the students know through our forums and take into account their voices. We’ve seen petitions work and we will continue to push them.
Litsinger: We will be implementing an Initiative Tracker. On the TSG website, there will be a list of all the initiatives promised during the campaign and under each one, it will say ‘inactive, in progress, or completed.’ Then it will list the steps taken to try to pursue this goal. This will increase transparency because we won’t just be updating students when it’s completed. We want students to see the steps we’re taking as a student government body.
If elected, how will you make sure that you and other executive leadership holders will remain accessible to students post-campaign?
Crespo: We will have office hours and make sure we are always accessible and personable. I understand that it can be intimidating to go into a TSG office and we feel like we’re very relatable. We just want to completely emphasize that we’re listening. We’re here to empathize— and if we can’t empathize, we can sympathize.
Litsinger: I think there’s currently a stigma on TSG not following through on their promises and not paying attention. That’s not necessarily true, but I think taking real, concrete, institutionalized steps to combat that stigma would change the perception of accessibility of TSG to the student body. We also plan to continue monthly town halls. BloomTU currently has a suggestions box on our website, and there’s no reason the TSG website shouldn’t have the same.
Don’t forget to tune in to the second live presidential debate between BloomTU and ListenTU on April 13 on TSG’s Facebook page, and vote for your candidate on April 14 and 15.