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����ֱ�� students played leading roles in a Salem Mayoral debate co-hosted by the Salem News and the university’s Frederick E. Berry Institute of Politics (Berry IOP) on October 18, 2021. The debate between Mayor Kim Driscoll and Salem Ward 7 Councillor Steve Dibble was held at Salem State’s Sophia Gordon Center for Creative and Performing Arts.

Salem State graduate student Samantha Giffen, of Salem, led the university’s efforts to organize the debate in collaboration with the Salem News. Giffen is completing a master’s degree in higher education in student affairs and serves as a graduate fellow for the Berry IOP. She is vice president of the student affairs graduate association and a graduate research associate for the Massachusetts Department of Higher Education. Giffen played a leadership role in the event’s planning and logistics, including recruiting and collaborating with the debate’s all-student panel that questioned the candidates. The debate was moderated by Salem News editor Dave Olson.

The mayoral debate’s student panelists included Cameron Foley, Tehniyat Hakim, and Sam Lim, who asked their own questions of the candidates as well as questions submitted by Salem residents and members of the Salem State community.

Foley, of Ipswich, is a senior in the Commonwealth Honors Program and will graduate with a bachelor’s degree in political science and environmental sustainability in May 2022. She is an executive board member of the Salem State Sunrise Movement, a member of the national political science honor society Pi Sigma Alpha, and an intern for the office of Congressman Seth Moulton. While attending Salem State, Foley has worked full time as a manager at the Ipswich Ale Brewer’s Table.

Hakim, of Burlington, has been an orientation leader since 2019 and is president of the ����ֱ�� College Republicans. Hakim works on campus in the university police office and will graduate with a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice this December.

Lim, currently of Salem and originally from Syracuse, NY, is a second-year graduate student in the higher education in student affairs program. They wear many hats as a senior graduate assistant for the LGBTQ+ programs in Salem State’s Center for Justice and Liberation; the president of the Student Affairs Graduate Association; a member of the City of Salem Education and Scholarship Committee, No Place for Hate Committee, and Cultural Council; and a trustee for the House of the Seven Gables.

“The Berry IOP places a focus on engaging students in politics, and we were able to emphasize that focus by having students front and center in this debate,” said Giffen. “We’re grateful to the Salem News for its partnership, to the candidates for joining us on campus, and most of all to our engaged community whose enthusiasm caused the event to fill up within days of us opening it for registration.”

Announced in 2019, the Berry IOP aims to engage and inspire a diverse community of learners to pursue careers in political and public service. The institute leads Salem State's voter engagement; hosts political discussions and debates; supports students with career interests in politics and public service and awards competitive scholarship offerings in the areas of government, politics, civic engagement, non-profit and other means of public service. For more information or if you have any questions, please visit  or email BerryIOP@salemstate.edu.