Undergraduate Student Government Polytechnic candidates have begun campaigning for elections starting March 14, with one executive ticket and two students from two colleges running for Senate.
The executive ticket
The executive ticket is made up of Cecilia Alcantar, who is the current USGP President, Nico Arango and Ricky Gomez. The ticket is running uncontested.
Alcantar is running for re-election for president of USGP, Arango is running for vice president of policy and Gomez is running for vice president of service.
Arango is currently a senator for the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering and Gomez is currently a senator for College of Health Solutions.
The ticket's platform focuses on three pillars: basic needs, student success and support and “holistic experience.” The pillars include advocating for increased student access to housing information, creating a “resource connection form” and providing funding opportunities for students to cover the cost of professional exams, such as the MCAT.
Alcantar, a junior studying mechanical engineering systems, first ran for executive office in the spring of 2021 with Emanuella Ntim for vice president of policy and Jake Okun for vice president of service.
READ MORE: A rundown of the 2021 USG Polytechnic candidates
“We aim to connect ASU students with food and housing insecurity, or other unmet Basic Needs, to ASU resources that will help them succeed,” wrote Alcantar on the ticket’s Instagram page, which she operates.
Arango, a student studying mechanical engineering systems, plans to use his resourcefulness and sociability when in office to improve the student experience on campus, as said on the ticket's Instagram. He serves as the chair of the USGP appropriations committee, which assists with student club and organization funding.
Gomez, a freshman studying medical studies, prides himself on his people skills, which allows him to “bring a progressive and laid back attitude to student outreach,” the Alcantar ticket's Instagram said.
This spring, Alcantar’s basic needs work group, composed of students from all campuses, was identified to represent the University on the ASU Basic Needs Committee for the Arizona Board of Regents.
According to a recent Instagram post, Alcantar hopes to offer students a comprehensive list available of housing, food, mental health and financial resources. Alcantar worked to address the concerns of aviation students and international students at the Polytechnic campus in her first term.
The ticket did not provide comment on its campaign for the time of publication.
The Senate candidates
The College of Integrative Sciences and Arts has two seats with one candidate, Lailah Smith, running. The Ira A. Fulton School of Engineering also has two seats with one candidate, Julius Woart, running.
Woart, a sophomore studying software engineering, is a current USGP Senator for the Fulton School. His top priority is to increase the involvement of undergraduate clubs and organizations in Senate initiatives.
Facilitating collaboration between students of different colleges is the most rewarding aspect of being a student government representative, Woart said.
“Everybody has a great idea,” Woart said of his time in office. “At the end of the day, (students) are learning how to navigate their ideas and bring it down to the most successful one any student would benefit from.”
He wrote in an email that he wants to ensure students have a voice in the financial, dining and student life decisions made by the administration.
There are no candidates running for Barrett, The Honors College, Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College, W.P. Carey School of Business, the College of Health Solutions and the College of Global Futures at the Polytechnic campus. Each college has two seats available.
USGP has three at-large positions with no candidates running.
Smith did not respond to requests for comment on her campaign.
Voting will take place in-person and online over SunDevilSync on March 29 and 30. The results will be announced on March 31. There is more information about voting to come.
Reach the reporter at tjgantz@asu.edu and follow @GantzTori on Twitter.
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Tori is a politics reporter covering voting rights, labor, and University Student Government Polytechnic at the State Press. They are currently working for the News Collab and Wick Communications to create the Voices Listening Project, a collaborative research project in Arizona funded by the Google News initiative.
