College juniors Matt Amalfitano and Grant Dubler made history on Thursday afternoon by participating in the first-ever Undergraduate Assembly presidential debate.
The debate, which was held in Harrison College House, was co-sponsored by the Penn Democrats and Penn Political Review.
Approximately 20 students attended the debates, according to College senior and chairwoman of Penn’s presidential debate commission Natalie Vernon.
Although turn-out was low, Vernon remains optimistic.
“For a Thursday at noon, that was a really good number of people,” she said.
Expectations for the upcoming debates are high, and attendance is expected to rise as the week goes on, Vernon said.
But she added that the debate was well-organized.
“The questions that we asked were really to the point,” she said, “and the candidates had both done their homework.”
Topics included political engagement on campus, the funding structure of the Student Activities Council, support for Penn athletics and the future of the Medical Emergency Response Team.
Both candidates’ commitment to political activism came across in the debates, College sophomore and President of Penn Dems Emma Elman-Golman said.
Although both candidates are well qualified, the Penn Democrats are endorsing Amalfitano for president because of his experience, she said.
“We have a lot of ideas that I think he will be able to just get started on right away,” she said.
Penn Dems are also endorsing College junior Mark Pan for vice president.
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