ASU's Undergraduate Student Government Tempe elections are proceeding rapidly. Four executive tickets have announced their campaigns, which will be available for voting from March 26 through March 27.
USG represents the student population of ASU and acts as the Sun Devils' voice to the University administration, the state Legislature, and the Arizona Board of Regents. USG also advocates for student rights and ensures students are registered to vote and have a say in school-wide decisions.
The executive ticket consists of three positions: president, vice president of service and vice president of policy. Along with the USGT executive ticket positions, the Downtown Phoenix, West Valley and Polytechnic campuses also have executive tickets running for office.
READ MORE: Meet the unopposed ticket for USG Polytechnic 2024-25 executive office
The voting cycle will be facilitated by the Associated Students of ASU (ASASU) elections, which will release the results on April 1 after a two-day certification period.
The tickets running in this cycle for Tempe are under USGT presidential candidates Mason DoVico, Navigna Reddy Gangumalla, Naina Misra and Harsh Vaishya.
DoVico Ticket
DoVico is running for president, D'lijha (DJ) Jones is running for vice president of service and Maggie Ranft is running for vice president of policy. Their campaign is focused on implementing and improving diversity in USGT.
DoVico is a junior studying political science and business and currently serves as a senator for the W.P. Carey School of Business and the chairman of the finance committee. Jones is a junior studying business, and Ranft is a junior studying marketing.
DoVico and his ticket agree that bringing diversity into USGT is "the absolute main focus of the campaign."
"Here we are in 2024, lacking diversity instead of having USG look and think like ASU," said Cayla Kirschbaum, a sophomore studying business and DoVico’s chief of staff. "So when comprising the tickets together, our biggest goal is to make sure USG looks like an accurate representation of people from all different walks of life, areas and organizations within ASU."
DoVico said something he would like to continue if he is elected is reforming existing bylaws, which he said he has been consistently doing in the finance committee.
"For the last five years, even to a decade, the bylaws have not seen a change at all," DoVico said. "They are so unorganized, and there (are) so many things that repeat themselves or even contradict themselves, and so many students get confused by them."
They also said they hope to provide the school with proper fund management across multiple departments. The ticket said they believe it is essential for clubs to receive adequate funding and resources to be successful on campus.
Read more about their platform here.
Gangumalla Ticket
Navigna Reddy Gangumalla is running for president, Nivesh Mukka is running for vice president of service and Anannya Reddy Gade is running for vice president of policy. They said their campaign is most concerned with hearing from the student population to understand what developments need to happen to serve the University community more successfully.
Gangumalla, Mukka and Gade are all sophomores studying computer science. They say it is crucial to their ticket that students, specifically international students, feel supported on campus.
"Most international students face a lot of problems after coming to any foreign university," Gade said. "So we would like to hear their problems and we would like to convey the issues to our University and find a solution for the problem."
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They also want to provide more funds to clubs at ASU to increase the number of events and activities within student organizations.
"I would like to organize an event where all clubs come together," Gangumalla said.
Hosting numerous clubs together for one event would make fundraising easier and expose students to multiple opportunities at once—all while benefiting smaller clubs, Gangumalla said.
Read more about their platform here.
Misra Ticket
Naina Misra is running for president, Anirudh Manjesh is running for vice president of service and Isaiah (Zay) Murphy is running for vice president of policy. Their ticket is focused on supporting inclusivity and accessibility for all students on campus.
Misra is currently a junior studying biomedical engineering and is the president of the Biomedical Engineering Society. This is her first year running for an executive position at USG. She did so because she "saw a lot of room for improvement in the areas of inclusivity and equity for other student organizations."
Manjesh is a sophomore studying computer science, and Murphy is a freshman studying psychology.
According to Misra, something she would like to implement if elected is increasing funding for clubs on ASU’s campus through different funding categories separated by the clubs' purpose.
"Essentially, different sectors of ASU will receive the same benefits as clubs that may be getting more funding currently," Misra said.
Misra's ticket is in agreement that they would like to act as a bridge for dialogue between students and the University. They plan to create a newsletter that will reach students in Tempe and enhance transparency and communication.
Murphy said that by communicating with students, USG executives can work on "defeating that barrier," which prevents students from voicing their concerns.
Read more about their platform here.
Vaishya Ticket
Harsh Vaishya is running for president, Aarthak Jindal is running for vice president of service and Zaib Shaikh is running for vice president of policy. Their ticket's campaign is also centered on ensuring ASU is an inclusive university, especially for international students.
Vaishya, a freshman studying computer science, said he wanted to join USG because he saw it as an opportunity to make ASU a more comfortable university for all students. He also wanted to demonstrate the accessibility of USG to international students and show them the resources available through USG, he said.
Jindal is a sophomore studying computer science, and Shaikh is a freshman studying aerospace engineering.
"We would like to promote transparency in the student government because there are many students who don't know about USG," Shaikh said. "So we would like to promote USG and tell people that 'there is a student government that cares about you and listens to you.'"
Their goal is to encourage community involvement and advocacy by improving communication by implementing an action called Advocacy for Student Unity Progress Accessibility and Community Transform, or ASUPACT as well as "feedback boxes" around campus.
Read more about their platform here.
Edited by Grey Gartin, Walker Smith and Angelina Steel.
Reach the reporter at njarret1@asu.edu and @nataliajarrett on X.
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Natalia is a sophomore studying journalism and mass communication. This is her third semester with The State Press. She has also worked as a politics reporter.
