Voting for the Undergraduate Student Government on all campuses has begun online with the Downtown Phoenix Sears ticket is running unopposed.
The Downtown Phoenix president, vice president of policy and vice president of service for the 2023-2024 school year are set, but will officially be announced on Thursday alongside other USGD positions. Voting will close Wednesday night.
The campus is home to degree programs in healthcare, journalism, public policy and more. The incoming USGD officers will represent the second-largest ASU campus with over 11,000 students, according to University data.
READ MORE: USG Downtown, Polytechnic update model for student representation
The Sears ticket platform emphasizes a student-first approach, focused on legislation, advocacy and events.
Harrison Sears, a junior studying political science and philosophy, will be the next USGD president after serving as USGD senate president this year.
"I saw USGD as an outlet to advocate and represent my peers," Sears said in an email. "I acknowledged the work accomplished by USGD and thought it would be a great place to grow as a leader and an advocator."
Sears said he sees the large student population and the compact size of the Downtown Phoenix campus as a combination that allows for high levels of outreach between USGD and the student body.
Seanika Mathis, a sophomore studying criminology and criminal justice, is the current vice president of policy and is re-running for the position. Mathis said she wants to continue her role to advocate "for people who can't do it for themselves or who don't know how to do it for themselves."
Mathis said that USGD focuses on making professional opportunities available to students due to its proximity of the campus to large employers in the city.
"That's the main thing that designates us from the other campuses," Mathis said. "With the majors and the culture of Downtown, it's very leadership-oriented, and I feel like that's a goal for a lot of the Downtown students."
READ MORE: Meet the USG Polytechnic campus executive officers running unopposed for 2023-2024
The current USGD vice president of service, Pat Apap, is running for the same position and will continue to retain it for the 2023-2024 academic year. Apap, a junior studying public service and public policy, has worked on initiatives in USGD to address the accessibility and availability of campus counseling services.
As vice president of service this year, Apap has fostered "inclusivity collaborations" between USGD and student clubs to put on events.
Apap's past experience as director of programming for the Residence Hall Association led him to streamline the event planning process for student associations and clubs. Apap said he values being proactive in planning student government outreach events.
"The biggest thing has been planning ahead," Apap said. "I think it's really important to know that we need to plan ahead as much as possible to know we're getting the resources and the spaces that we want, while also keeping our plan very flexible."
Edited by Shane Brennan, Jasmine Kabiri and Anusha Natarajan.
Reach the reporter at greygartin@gmail.com and alysa.horton@gmail.com and follow @greygartin and @alysa_horton on Twitter.
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Alysa is a senior studying journalism and mass communication with a minor in political science. This is her fifth semester with The State Press. She has also worked at The Arizona Republic.
