The Undergraduate Student Government elections are imminent, with voting set to begin Feb. 17. As senatorial candidates campaign for 12 open seats with hopes that they will have the opportunity to work with the University’s administration to represent the student body, the Daily Trojan spoke with students about what changes they want to see from the USG senate.

In general, USG moves to improve the experience of undergraduate students. The senators act as liaisons between students and the University’s administration to bring students’ wants to campus. USC administration and USG then collaborate to implement these changes, provided they are feasible and follow the University’s policies.

Although USG holds debates and other events to garner attention from the student body, for most students, this does not seem to be enough. Voter turnout for USG has been decreasing recently, with only around 17% of the undergraduate student body participating in the general election in 2025.

Mia Hu, a junior majoring in art, said that because she already doesn’t know much about USG senate, she doesn’t think putting up signs of candidates as a more obvious approach to get engagement works very well when the signs don’t include much information either. Senatorial and presidential candidates are allowed to place lawn signs along Trousdale Parkway during the campaign period.

“The less you know, the less inclined you are to participate,” Hu said.

Orion Davis, a freshman majoring in psychology, attributed low voter turnout to a lack of accessible or sufficient information for students. Davis said that they wish they would receive emails about USG events to solve that issue. Information on the senatorial candidates can be found on the USG social media page, but it takes additional steps to access it, such as scanning QR codes or clicking links.

The lack of knowledge on what the senate actually does has led people to be unaware of the impact of the senate’s decisions. Rebecca Sefa, a sophomore majoring in biomedical engineering, said that in the grand scheme of things, the choices made by the senate don’t create drastic changes for her.

“I’m under the impression that they don’t have that much power, so I don’t really have a reason to [follow the elections],” Hu said. “I don’t think that they can do much, I kind of just imagine them as an extension of the high school student council.”

However, Sid Goyal, a campaign manager for Leilani Akwue, a senatorial candidate, said educating voters is imperative because each undergraduate student pays a $64 student programming fee to fund USG’s roughly $2.5 million budget.

“Students deserve to know where their money goes, how it is being spent and who’s making decisions on their behalf,” said Goyal, a sophomore majoring in computer engineering and computer science. “When students don’t know what USG does or why it matters, they can’t hold their representatives accountable, which weakens the entire system.”

Sefa said she hopes that the senate would take action to protect those affected by changing policies at the federal and state level rather than staying silent.

“Students would definitely feel safer and more protected, instead of feeling like we’re just numbers or here to give them money,” Sefa said.

Over the past year, the federal government’s actions have harmed undocumented and international students through heightened Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity in the Los Angeles area and policies that restrict international students’ ability to acquire student visas.

Some students said that one of the changes they want to see out of the senate involves safety and feeling secure on campus by fostering better dialogue between students and administrators.

“I wish we had more conversations with the [school administration]. I feel like there’s a huge disconnect between us and [the administration]. We’re not really informed about what they’re doing,” Davis said. “I don’t feel necessarily protected by my own school.”

In addition to safety, students also showed a strong desire to see improvement in the social experience they receive on campus.

Hu said some of the student events held by USG were lacking in engagement despite the effort that goes into them. Hu said she rarely notices an interest in attending USG events without incentives and said improving promotional efforts would allow students to connect with each other.

Food was also a common topic. Davis said they wish to see changes in the meal plan availability, especially since all freshmen are mandated to have the Cardinal meal plan which totals to $8,438 for both semesters unless students can get it waived with a dietitian’s note.

Though the senatorial candidates will work to address the concerns and wants of students, the lack of knowledge about their actions may continue. And although the changes they make may not be tangible or immediately felt by everyone, voting in elections remains important to students.

“A small amount of change is a big change for the student body,” Davis said.