After the recent primary election results for ASUU were confirmed, a total of three tickets remain in the race for the 2025-26 student body presidency. The Singh Ticket came out as frontrunners, earning 1,250 of the 3,472 total votes cast.
The Singh ticket consists of students Sunny Singh as the presidential candidate, Olivia Saenz as the vice president of university relations and Elle Williams as the vice president of student relations.
Singh is a third-year student at the University of Utah pursuing two degrees in physics and philosophy. He is also the current assembly treasurer and represents the College of Humanities for ASUU.
Saenz is a third-year student studying earth and environmental science. She sits on the U of U Student Health and Wellness Advisory Board. Williams is a second-year finance major and an officer of One Love Ski Club.
“We all have different majors, different activities and different experiences,” Williams said. “That diversity is our strength.”
Leverage and the Ski Bus
The candidates emphasized their commitment to leveraging ASUU’s historical influence to address pressing student concerns. Singh highlighted ASUU’s past accomplishments, like establishing student discounts with local businesses.
“Student government is powerful and capable of doing a lot of stuff,” Singh said. “We want to continue that legacy.”
One of their key proposals is a shuttle service that would transport students from campus to the Cottonwood Canyons, where they could access world-class skiing, climbing and hiking. Williams noted that the university’s 2030 physical development plan, which aims to reduce on-campus parking, makes such a service essential.
“A lot of students come to this school for skiing,” Williams said. “If they can’t bring their cars and there’s no shuttle, how are they going to ski?”
The candidates are exploring funding options, including partnerships with ski lodges and private donors. Singh pointed to past ASUU successes in securing private funding, such as a $3 million donation from the Eccles Foundation for the student life center.
Protecting Humanities and Fine Arts
The ticket is also focused on safeguarding humanities and fine arts programs, which they say are under threat due to proposed budget cuts. Singh cited Utah House Speaker Mike Schultz’s call for a 10% reduction in higher education spending and a recent legislative audit recommending cuts to programs with lower returns on investment.
“We want to work with the administration to propose alternate cuts so these programs don’t get axed,” Singh said.
Singh suggested reallocating funds from areas like the Business Career Services, which he argued receives disproportionate tuition dollars despite strong external funding from sponsors and alumni.
“I believe universities aren’t fully capitalizing on this renewed interest of the humanities,” Singh said. “We want to explore ways to tap into this demand so that enrollment in the humanities college grows.”
Reallocation of Student Fees
Another major part of their platform involves reallocating student activity fees. Currently, University of Utah students are required to pay a $23.12 fee each semester which makes up ASUU’s budget of $1.8 million. $1.2 million goes towards ASUU activities and student organizations, while the remaining $600k is given to faculty funding.
Currently, Singh said there are internal talks to increase the fee by $3, which would add over $200k to the budget. While the candidates support the increase, they want to make sure the money is spent right.
“Activity fees should be going to student activities, not to faculty,” Williams said.
Singh added there are other ways to fund full-time staff so more funds are free for clubs and events.
“We want to shift the burden of funding full time staff from the ASUU activity fee to other, more stable university sources,” he said.
Reviving Traditions and Building Community
The ticket also aims to revive “Rock the U”, a dance party tradition established in 2006 to raise money for cancer research. This year, they propose using the event to fund trail safety initiatives in honor of a core committee member who passed away recently.
“It’s about bringing students together while supporting an important cause,” Singh said. “We want to restore this tradition in a way that makes sense for today’s student body.”
