The Hinckley Institute of Politics held the first ASUU presidential election debate on Feb. 3 where six tickets expressed their platform policies on budget, safety, community, sustainability and more. 

The six tickets proposed and compared their policies and focuses as they compete for the Associated Students of the University of Utah (ASUU) leadership. There are two rounds of elections. Primary elections will open on Feb. 11 and close on Feb. 13. The three winners of the primary election will move on to the second debate round held on Feb. 19. 

Ticket introductions

The Hand ticket includes presidential candidate Carol Hand, Zoha Memon as vice president of university relations and Sandrine Mimche as vice president of student relations. The Hand ticket is advocating for affordability, safety and transformation. 

On the JUMP ticket is Josh Hilbig as the student body president, Pea Ichimura as the vice president of university relations and Maren Cottrell as the vice president of student relations. JUMP’s three pillars are community, advocacy and safety. 

The McCann ticket consists of Mason McCann as the presidential candidate, Marcus Romero as the vice president of university relations and Izabella Sandoval as the vice president of student relations. This ticket emphasizes communication, voice and change as their pillars. 

The OMG ticket contains students Gaby Renteria as the presidential candidate, Mia Sugimoto as the vice president of university relations and Owen Watkins as the vice president of student relations. The OMG ticket’s three pillars are empowerment, wellness and pride.

On the Stringham ticket, there is Erica Stringham for the presidential candidate, Jake Holmberg for the vice president of university relations and Niya West for the vice president of student relations. Their focus is affordability, belonging and mental health. 

Finally, the Sunshine ticket features Rayshon “Ray” Baker as the presidential candidate, Eddie Yokoyama as the vice president of university relations and Adrianna Bonney as vice president of student relations. The Sunshine ticket is advocating for transparency, a voice for the student populace, engagement and an enhancement of the student experience. 

Community and campus

On the topic of engaging in a positive campus and advocating for marginalized communities, candidates on the tickets acknowledged their plan. The Hand Ticket described connecting communities through transparency and advocacy. 

Cottrell and Ishimura from the JUMP ticket said that their platform would advocate for migrant safety along with providing food for those in need. “One marginalized community that gets overlooked is those that are in need of food,” said Ichimura. They plan an initiative to compile leftover meal swipes so others can use them. 

Romero from the McCann ticket said that he plans to “use [his] connections to advocate for marginalized communities.” Romero “promises” that the McCann ticket will address the fear and uncertainty many students are feeling by advocating on their behalf. 

The OMG ticket plans to incorporate Registered Student Organizations (RSOs) to advocate for marginalized communities. According to Sugimoto, the OMG ticket will advocate “for RSOs, instead of them continuing to be misrepresentative and under-representative.”

The Stringham ticket spoke about both advocating for mental health resources across campus and making sure students know they have resources through “athletics, Greek life, marketing committees, campus events and all these different organizations.”

Finally, the Sunshine ticket plans to advocate for marginalized communities through “data driven analytics from students and from their voices,” Baker said. Baker also stated that he wants students to have more awareness of their power, when it comes to drafting bills for ASUU.

Budget

Each platform had an opportunity to discuss what they would do with the budget within ASUU. 

The Hand ticket is “passionate about making sure that not only we’re using our funding responsibly, but … in a way that makes sense for students.” Hand said that instead of spending on forced events, they’d rather use it on transformation for students. 

Hilbig, from the JUMP ticket, said they plan to “prioritize funding our registered student organizations,” especially to fill the gap left by HB261 and to work with migrant populations and people from marginalized communities.

McCann said that if he were elected as president, he would “expand the total club budget pool.” Along with club funding, the ticket will emphasize the culture and belonging board. 

Renteria said that the OMG ticket plans to prioritize “student voices through RSOs and also contribute to events that students want by making sure each board has a specific mission.”

Stringham said that her ticket plans to advocate for more transparency and “more direct communication amongst the boards and the administration,” along with weekly check-ins on the budget.

Baker, on the Sunshine ticket, said that their platform plans to “assess some of the big expenses [ASUU has].” They plan to redirect funding from less popular events back into RSOs. 

Sustainability 

Each platform was also asked how they planned to implement sustainability. 

The Hand Ticket plans to use legislative advocacy and giving funds to the sustainability board to get initiatives done.

Hilbig said that the JUMP ticket is advocating to reduce water usage by removing any non-functional turf on campus. They’re looking into putting a “ban on single use plastic bags… and limiting the amount of corporate swag that’s given out.” 

The McCann ticket will encourage the use of more public transportation.  

Renteriia said that the OMG ticket is planning an initiative to control campus parking by creating farther lots with campus shuttles.

The Stringham ticket spoke about working with RSOs “who are already working to help sustainability” along with a public transportation campaign. 

Baker said the Sunshine ticket will emphasize giving “visibility” to students and RSOs on campus who have been focused on these sustainability initiatives for a while. 

Each ticket’s top priorities

Hand said that her ticket will first advocate for safety “beyond campus borders.” The Hand ticket plans to promote affordability, too, through access to resources and more campus jobs.

The JUMP ticket hopes to “create more descriptive student data and jurisdictional privacy privacy resolution” through FERPA protections and physical classroom sanctuaries. Hilbig also mentioned their “proposal for the implementation of controlled alcohol sales at university athletic venues” to increase revenue.

McCann said that they plan to create new applications, including an app for “ direct student to administration feedback.” The ticket will also focus on creating an all in one student and academic resource website. 

OMG wants to promote empowerment so that students can speak up. Presidential candidate Renteria said that to do this, she would host office hours. She also said that they would focus on wellness, including financial wellness, food or safety. 

Stringham said that lowering tuition is a top focus for the ticket because “money affects everyone.” The Stringham ticket is also emphasizing mental health and safety, and also “advertise what resources are available to students” within those focuses. 

Baker noted that the Sunshine ticket wants to prioritize resources. They want to “let students know what resources they have [and] update the resources that they have ready and available.” They also have intentions to create a board focused on the parking issues. 

[email protected]

@meadowstewart.bsky.social