For Bryan Fernandez and Brianna Sanchez, creating an administration that rightfully provides a voice for different campus communities is priority number one.
“Our goal is to kind of bring in different identities and different backgrounds who students feel comfortable with approaching the entirety of USG and not necessarily just feel like we’re representing one particular group on campus,” said Fernandez, a sophomore studying public policy with a minor in law and migrations studies.
Both Fernandez and Sanchez have held various leadership roles throughout their time on campus, helping pave the way to their candidacy. Fernandez is currently serving as a USG senator, where he said he is able to “collaborate and work with various individuals to promote our goals and visions on how to build a better USC through advocacy and projects.” Sanchez is currently the Wellness Chair for USG, a position she said allows her to see the ins and outs of the legislative branch.
Sanchez, a legal studies major with a minor in forensics and criminology, said that ensuring the legislative process runs smoothly was something that motivated her to “pursue the vice president role.”
Another major component of their campaign is to bring in the right cabinet.
“Just setting a solid foundation of what we envision USG to be is going to be crucial,” Fernandez said. “And that’s what we’re going to start with.”
The pair said they also hope to place an emphasis on testing accessibility for sexually transmitted infections [STIs] in order to enhance student well-being across campus. Testing for STIs is something that Sanchez said she has been looking to make quick and easy for a while now.
“We already have a current collaboration with [Graduate Student Government (GSG)], and they really want to make sure that this continues to be something that GSG and USG can contribute to,” Sanchez said. “For our students to have a free month of testing every semester.”
One last aspect of the Trojan community Sanchez and Fernandez said they hope to change is the format of the town hall meetings held on campus. Fernandez homed in on the idea that the meetings need to be more inviting and comfortable for students to attend.
“The way these talks are currently set up is that students sign up for them,” he said. “Students are going to these talks, and that may be intimidating.”
Fernandez said the overall uncertainty before the meeting, whether it be toward the administrators leading the meeting or the topic of the discussion, is something that needs to change.
Campus directors should be working side by side with students for the meetings, rather than students having to climb to them in order to reach their ultimate goals, Fernandez said.
Ultimately, Fernandez and Sanchez said they want to see a USC campus that is focused on wellness, transparency, affordability and open communication.