The Wayne State College Student Senate hosted its annual issues forum on Feb. 10 in the Frey Suite of the WSC Student Center.
Student Senate’s issues forum, in collaboration with Pi Gamma Mu (PGM), the social sciences honor society, is a way to introduce the president and vice president candidates for the next school year and talk about some issues students have on campus. Ava Hoffschnieder and Braxton Dalton were the 2025-26 president and vice president, respectively.
“The issues forum is a chance for students to hear the thoughts and opinions of the candidates running for president and vice president,” Hoffscheider said. “Both sets of candidates will be kind of in a hot seat. They’ll be sitting on the stage at the front of the Frey Suite, and people can submit questions for them, and Dr. B, who helps run it, will also be there curating questions, and usually someone else emcees it and ask the questions themselves.”
The 2026-27 candidates for are Simeon Weers and Bianca Branco for president, and Robynne McMaster and Julya Metschke for vice president. The two groups are already campaigning across campus.
“Bianca and I are running on our four pillars of visibility, community and connection, with the overall goal of bridging the gap between students and their senators,” Metschke said.
Metschke is a sophomore from Seward, Nebraska, and is majoring in interdisciplinary studies with a focus on nonprofit management and a minor in environmental studies.
Branco, her running mate, is a sophomore elementary education major from Lincoln, Nebraska.
“We decided on the visibility aspect because we know a lot of people don’t know what a lot of their resources are available, so we want to make these more visible,” Branco said, “then connecting our campus because we feel like a lot of people are very distant form each other, whether literally or figuratively. And then the community aspect; very similar to the first two. Community is the most import aspect, and it’s the heat of success in life.”
One big change the pair wants to make is adding a sidewalk connecting Stearns Hall to the rest of campus.
Weers is a sophomore majoring in social studies education with an endorsement in coaching from Neola, Iowa.
“We have three core principles,” Weers said, “The first one is enhancing communication. Student Senate started releasing a newsletter this semester that touches on some things that are going on on campus. So, we just want to keep building on that. Our second principle is campus improvement, so not just getting ideas and not doing anything with it but actually taking action. Then our last is advocating for the students’ desires, figuring out what those students want, and helping turn them into reality.”
McMaster, running alongside Weers, is a junior criminal justice and business administration major minoring in pre-law from Johannesburg, South Africa.
“I think coming up with a campaign is quite tough in the beginning because you want to make sure you see the changes and make the changesthat you want to see,” McMaster said.
The candidates brought these issues and others raised by students at the forum.
Randy Bertolas, advisor for PGM, said he chooses a new emcee every year from the varying departments across campus. This year, adjunct professor of communications, Shelby Hagerdon, is running the forum.
Elections for president and vice president will take place Feb. 17-20.
Another upcoming Student Senate event is Casino Night on Feb. 7, in collaboration with CatPAC, where students can meet the candidates and others running for Student Senate.
