The candidates for student body president and vice president of USC’s Undergraduate Student Government went head-to-head during a presidential debate on Thursday evening in the Sheindlin Forum.
The candidates were questioned on topics ranging from students’ mental health to budget transparency by moderators Nataly Joseph and Charlotte Phillip. Intermingled with slight jabs at one another’s platforms and a hard-hitting question from the current USG president, each ticket conveyed its top priorities and goals if elected.
Many candidates spoke about their own experiences and being transparent with voters. “I know about the hostility and relationship between south LA and the university,” said Monica Rodriguez, who is running for vice presidential candidate alongside Yoav Gillath, said. Rodriguez is a South L.A. native and recently started a restaurant crawl to introduce students to businesses within the area.
Current president Hannah Woodworth left the candidates shocked and the audience in audible amusement with her question. She prompted them to explain their plans and solutions they state they will fix regarding shared Lyfts in their platforms when they “know more about why this is not feasible than anyone else.”
“If you are unable to explain your approach, then please tell us what other of your platform points are based on unfulfillable promises,” Woodworth said.
Many candidates spoke about their own experiences and being transparent with voters. “I know about the hostility and relationship between south LA and the university,” Monica Rodriguez, vice presidential candidate to Yoav Gillath, said. Rodriguez is a South L.A. native and recently started a restaurant crawl to introduce students to businesses within the area.
Aidan Feighery, who is running for president alongside Ashley Ka, shared this sentiment when discussing students’ mental health. Feighery said they feel it’s important to be “open about our own experiences with mental health when we gain a platform like this.”
Mental health services provided by USC were a frequent topic during the debate that many candidates discussed.
Candidates Divya Jakatdar and Michelle Lu hope to expand the therapy session limit and diversify the providers available. “We believe therapy is a basic need for students,” Jakatdar said.
Candidate Miko Mariscal, running alongside Andrew Taw, called out Rodriguez’s mental health Mondays initiative and stated her campaign would implement “long-lasting impacts” to support students who need more than an “easy fix” such as yoga or playing with puppies.
Diversity within USG came into question several times throughout the night, as audience members, live stream viewers and the moderators. While most candidates agreed on increasing the hiring and presence of minority groups as well as funding transparency with student organizations, Feighery brought up issues on representation.
Outside of USG, the candidates explained how they would ensure students of all backgrounds felt safe at USC considering students’ negative experiences with DPS. Feighery and Ka believe in “deemphasizing DPS and our reliance on them” by leaning more heavily on programs such as yellow jackets. However, the pair also argued that “problems in those new alternatives” need to be addressed in particular the yellow jacket ambassadors.
Lu called for reform and transparency in the hiring practices of DPS employees, arguing that”DPS hires a lot of fired LAPD officers.”
The issue of disaffiliation of fraternities on campus arose as Feighery called out his fellow candidates’ platforms for lacking mention of the issue.
“Why does it show up in no other candidates’ actual platform? … We think that is something people need to talk about,” Feighery said.
Mariscal called for a focus on the “rates of men facing sexual violence” due to hazing, while Jakatdar passionately stated USC’s absence of a rape center on or near campus.
“UCLA has one. We don’t have things like that that are protections to students,” Jakatdar said.
Candidate Devin Ayala, who is running for president alongside Navya Singh, shared that he is involved with a program that distributes fentanyl test strips on a weekly basis to the USC community when asked about how he will address overdose prevention.
The debate was live-streamed by Annenberg Media and can be accessed here.
Voting begins on USG’s website Tuesday, February 21, and closes on February 26.