Woodworth, Krishnan win USG election

Hannah Woodworth and Nivea Krishnan were elected as the next president and vice president of the Undergraduate Student Government, the USG elections commission announced during Tuesday’s senate meeting. USC Campus Activities will finalize the election results March 8. 

Woodworth, a junior who currently serves as the executive aide to president Alexis Areias, and Krishnan, a sophomore who currently is a senator, defeated two write-in tickets — neither of which were included on the official ballot. Write-in candidates included the ticket of Rachel Lee and Collin Colson and the ticket of Kyle Valdes and Safal Mengi. 

The total voter turnout was 4,451, with 3,749 voting for candidates and 702 abstaining from voting in the presidential election. Hannah-Nivea garnered 55.11% of the vote, with a total of 2,453 votes. Lee-Colson received 18.62% of the vote, with a total of 823 votes, while Kyle-Safal received 10.62% of the vote, with a total of 473 votes. 

“I’m excited to take over the position of vice president,” Krishnan said in an interview with the Daily Trojan. “I have big shoes to fill from Lucy [Warren] because she’s done a lot of great work, so I definitely want to make sure I carry through that work but excited to make some big changes to make our student government more accessible and more transparent.”

Woodworth and Krishnan ran on a platform of “accountability, advocacy and accessibility.” Their goals for the upcoming academic year include creating greater transparency between USG and the student body through public engagement sessions, building on current advocacy related to expanding the free Lyft program and establishing an annual accessibility audit. 

“I’m definitely very happy with the presidential results,” senator Brian Stowe said. “I think [Krishnan] will do an excellent job, and [Woodworth] is extremely smart as well; so, definitely looking forward to seeing what will happen next year in USG with both of them in charge.”

Former presidential candidates Weston Bell-Geddes and Erica Wang dropped out of the race on Feb. 3, writing on Instagram that “seeking positions within USG is not the way to achieve our goals.” Bell-Geddes and Wang later endorsed the write-in presidential candidates in a post on their Instagram. 

The election season marked a return to in-person campaigning after two years largely online, with candidates passing out food, speaking on megaphones and putting up yard signs around campus. Woodworth and Krishnan received endorsements from Phi Alpha Delta, Trojan Democrats, Alpha Phi Omega, Model United Nations of Southern California, AcceptED USC and BusinessSC.

“I would just say that it was a hard-fought campaign,” chief communications officer Jacob Wheeler said in an interview with the Daily Trojan. “Every candidate put in their best effort … Anyone who promotes democracy and wants to fulfill democracy should be admired and should be commended, so I commend all the candidates.”

The 2022-23 USG senators will be Devin Ayala, Navya Singh, Michelle Lu, Yoav Gillath, Divya Jakatdar, Maria Barun, Aidan Feighery, Sanjana Sambhwani, Jessica Gonzalez, Alvaro Flores, Sam Habibi and Victor Ye. 

Woodworth, Krishnan and the senators will be inaugurated April 5.

Prior to the announced election results, vice president Lucy Warren presented updates on inclusion, accessibility and misconduct reporting projects. 

Warren’s inclusion projects include implementing UndocuAlly Training — an initiative to educate staff and faculty on better understanding undocumented students — and Pronouns Pledge, a initiative to incorporate into the LGBTQ+ faculty training to create space for pronouns to be shared in the classroom, which will be solidified for the upcoming fall semester. Warren’s final inclusion project will include diversity, equity and inclusion questions on course evaluations to ensure that professors are held accountable in the classroom climate. 

With accessibility, Warren is working on getting an “embedded”  counselor for students with disabilities, an accessibility scavenger hunt which will be held in the first week of April to spread awareness about campus accessibility, providing virtual class accommodations advocating for the disability cultural center, and expanding the Office of Student Accessibility Services. 

Warren is also working with the USC Student Equity and Inclusion Programs on creating an Bias Incident Team, which will provide a centralized recording form for students to report misconduct.

Senator Hana Li then presented her updates related to allocating increased funding and resources for the Transfer Student Assembly, creating a communications campaign detailing Title IX and RSVP processes to report  and working with Leda Health to speak with a trained crisis counselor 24/7. 

Li announced their plans to draft a resolution in support of the Ukrainian community. The Global Politics Institute will be hosting an event Crisis Briefing: The Russian Invasion of Ukraine Thursday at 12:30 p.m. 

Areias confirmed the nomination Bradley Furgerson as wellness chair and Wheeler as chief communications officer, the latter of who addressed concerns about an Instagram Live comment from USG’s official account during the Feb. 18 presidential debate. Wheeler also said he looks to plan a “COVID-19 town hall” for students to voice their concerns as USC considers its next steps on health restrictions. 

“I’m excited. I am working alongside dedicated, talented, brilliant people in USG,” Wheeler said.