MAE O’MALLEY / ASST. NEWS EDITOR

Elections for the Associated Student Government (ASG) will be held next week to determine the leaders of the Torero student body. The open elected positions include president and vice president, as well as academic, residential and at-large senators. 

To be eligible to run as a candidate for the student body, candidates must be a full-time student with a minimum 2.5 cumulative grade point average. Those running specifically for ASG president must be completing their sixth semester of college, while vice presidential candidates should be completing their fourth semester. 

USD juniors Cullen Pow and Lily Giovannelli are the two candidates running for ASG president. On April 3, the presidential debate gave students a glimpse into the candidates’ platforms. Audience turnout was particularly low in Maher’s Salomon Hall, with just less than one-third of the seats filled. The majority of the audience was current ASG members. Some USD students, including USD first-year Charlie Lyons, that are not part of ASG were unaware of the events leading up to the election. 

“To be honest, I had no idea it was even happening,” Lyons said. “If I had known I don’t think I would have gone because I wasn’t familiar with any of the candidates.” 

Some USD students have little participation in ASG, and therefore little awareness of the organization’s presence on campus. USD sophomore Hayden Estler stated the extent to which she knows about ASG.

“They should do more campaigns in the Paseo or something,” Estler pointed out. “I only know about the candidates that follow me on Instagram or come to [sorority] chapter and talk to us. Otherwise, I barely know when elections are happening or who is running.” 

ASG failed to comment on how they plan, if at all, to increase voter participation and turnout. 

For a better understanding of the candidates, keep reading to find out. 

Lily Giovannelli Presidential Candidate 

Lily Giovannelli is a junior from Pittsburgh majoring in political science. She has been active as a flyer on the cheer team and as an ASG member. 

During her time on ASG, she has served in multiple roles — first on the Senate Lead Team as a clerk, then as the Speaker Pro Tempore. This past fall, she spent the semester interning in Washington D.C. where she saw the impact of politics and the importance of working for her community. This experience inspired her to run for ASG president. 

“This campaign isn’t about what I can promise you, but about what we can achieve by working together,” Giovanelli remarked in her opening statement of the debate. 

Giovannelli’s main three issues include working with USD Dining, USD Mobility and Scheduling services to increase sustainable and accessible transportation on campus, while also working to increase school spirit and further civil discourse.

Giovanelli’s hope for working with dining services is to increase the availability of food options, and to continue the work ASG has been doing. Over the past three years, ASG has worked with dining to include gluten-free and allergy-friendly choices.  Additionally, Giovanelli maintains connections around campus to speak with administrators and students about the issues that she notices. 

“I see something like the culture nights being written about in the Vista, and this is feedback I need to bring up,” Giovanelli said. “I know Charles Ramos, who is the director of auxiliary services, like dining and catering… Once I saw that article I thought, ‘Okay, I need to bring this up to him.’” 

Giovanelli’s third main issue is furthering civil discourse on campus. In her role as a Civil Discourse Ambassador, she works with fellow students to encourage people to vote and share their opinions. 

“I think it is important to note that I am not speaking for people, but I am amplifying voices in my role in ASG,” Giovanelli  stated in the debate. “These  are student-body concerns that I am addressing while using my position.” 

Cullen Pow Presidential Candidate 

Cullen Pow is a junior from Cupertino, Calif. majoring in behavioral neuroscience with a double minor in Chinese and chemistry. Though this is Pow’s first time participating in ASG, he believes  that  his  outside knowledge will bring a new perspective to student government. 

“As someone with an outside perspective, I can bring new ideas, new drive and fresh pair of eyes,” Pow remarked in the debate. 

Pow is running his campaign on the  basis  of  three  student issues that he intends to fix. He hopes to mainstream communication between students and ASG, so that USD students are aware of the organization’s purpose. 

“We are looking to increase awareness of what ASG is so we can better advocate for the student body,” Pow commented. “That’s what its key purpose is. If only the hundred, or two hundred people involved in ASG, in a school of 10,000, are voicing their opinions, it’s not exactly advocating for everyone.” 

Pow is also looking to increase school spirit by uplifting team and club sports on campus. He plans to initiate new ideas that will encourage students to want to attend sporting events and to continue going to them. 

“Yes, we are college students and free food is enticing,” Pow remarked. “I think changing the giveaways to things that don’t necessarily cost ASG anything more would be totally feasible and people would go more.” 

If elected, Pow aims to aid students, particularly  first-years, in seeing more of San Diego, with community off-campus events and activities that would foster a welcoming environment. 

“There is so much more to San Diego than just school and the beach,” Pow stated. “We have hiking trails, downtown, La Jolla… It’s an expensive city. If we could do group activities in different areas of San Diego, it would do a ton to increase communication on campus, inclusivity and make people feel like they are seeing San Diego and making friends.”  

USD students can vote for their preferred candidate on the MySanDiego portal under the “ASG Elections” tab. Academic, residential, and at large senators will also be up for election on the portal. The ballot will be open electronically during a 48-hour window from April 9 at midnight to April 10 at 11:59pm.