In the 2026 to 2027 ASUU election, the Hand Ticket is one of three that made it past the primary elections. With 925 votes, they fell shortly behind the other two tickets, Sunshine and Stringham. General voting ends on Feb. 27, 2026.
The Hand Ticket candidates are Carol Hand, presidential candidate, Zoha Memon, vice president of university relations and Sandrine Mimche, vice president of student relations.
Hand is a third-year and first-generation student at the University of Utah who is studying strategic communications. She has been involved with ASUU for three years, serving in various positions throughout the years. Hand is also involved in the U’s Zeta Tau Alpha Sorority chapter, and is the president of the U’s chapter of Public Relations Student Society of America.
Memon is also a third-year and first-generation student, studying finance and economics, and is involved in several business and Islamic faith activities within the U and Salt Lake County, such as the Women in Finance Club and the Muslim Student Association.
Mimche is an international graduate student on the ticket who is currently working towards her master’s in public policy, a member of the Black Student Union and the president of U’s Delta Sigma Theta Sorority chapter.
“When I was going through this process, I was very clear on hiring people with extremely different lived experiences,” Hand said, “I think that’s so crucial. The lived experiences of us emphasize our ability to succeed.”
Changes in transportation
The three pillars of the campaign are safety, affordability, and transformation. One of the main initiatives that is prioritized by this ticket is to increase resources for commuter students, the main being a commuter lounge at the A. Ray Olpin Student Union.“I’m a commuter. I live in Riverton, and it’s quite a long commute. I definitely feel like the U is not represented as a commuter school as it should be,” Memon said, “It’s not fair, the level of representation that we get. We truly do want to change that with the commuter lounge.”
In recent years, the University of Utah has aimed to diminish its notoriety as a commuter school and is instead taking steps to commit to College Town Magic. This topic was brought up at the final ASUU presidential debate, to which Memon reiterated the statements of representing commuter students despite the U’s plans.
Beyond these commuter resources, the ticket also aims to expand URide systems past campus, increase shuttle routes and times and create more safety for campus transportation resources overall.
Affordability
A recent issue the Hand ticket cites within the U is the implementation of new parking and dining plan initiatives. The Hand Ticket wants to focus on keeping these costs affordable. They said it affects a large portion of the student body. Hand plans to combat rising costs at the U by implementing new dining and parking scholarships. They hope to cover expenses that might be unavoidable for groups of students.
“Affordability is really important to us, because every single student is at the university or is paying good money to come,” Hand said. “It’s profoundly important to me, as a student who has had to kind of struggle my way through college financially, that we are working and advocating for things to make it more affordable for students.”
Additionally, the ticket intends to expand food accessibility throughout campus, specifically through grocery support and SNAP outreach.“Resources like SNAP programs on campus don’t currently exist. We have roughly 77,000 students in the state of Utah who are eligible, but not on SNAP. There’s a large portion of students who could be utilizing these benefits and aren’t,” Hand said.
The ticket also wants to consider reintroducing the Home Away From Home (HAFH) program. The HAFH program was launched in 2022, and allowed students to house themselves with U alumni and staff for safe off-campus housing. The program ended in the spring semester of 2024.
Transparency and communication
Another main goal of the Hand Ticket is to ensure students have the ability to communicate with ASUU. The presidency wants to focus on transparency between the university and its students for all issues. Mimche hopes that this communication can be bridged by ASUU and increasing approachability.
“Something that I want to do is have open hours. We’re supposed to be out there, communicating with students and having time for them to talk to us,” Mimche said. “Students also feel like the ASUU office is a scary place. All students should feel welcome to go in there.”
The Hand Ticket also wants to commit to more outreach for students. Through social media and working closely with students, they want students to become more aware of the work that ASUU does and realize that they are readily available to reach out to for any issue on campus. “We need to not only involve student voices, but help communicate what plans actually look like,” Hand said.
“AIM Higher with Hand”
The pillar that centers on transformation also has the objective of representing students of different backgrounds. The Hand Ticket is the first in 12 years to have a graduate representative, which has been highlighted throughout the ticket’s campaign.
“Most of our pillars are not directly diversity-based, because we care about the issues of every single student. The issues that every single student faces are instead heightened by diversity,” Mimche stated.
“We truly do provide every perspective possible,” Memon added. “We feel like we all have a different experience on campus throughout our entire discourse at the U.”
All candidates said they prioritize representing students from a wide range of backgrounds, emphasizing that they intend to address issues affecting students with different backgrounds and enabling immediate impact. “I’ve realized that none of our policies can be implemented without an executive leadership position,” Hand said. “All of our policies are designed, not only for the student in mind, but also designed to be something that can impact them almost immediately.”
