By Theresa Schliep
Connor Sullivan, FCRH ’19, and Kaylee Wong, GSB ’18, were elected executive president and vice president, respectively, of United Student Government (USG) in this year’s elections. Sullivan and Wong ran uncontested and received 493 votes from the student body.
Sullivan and Wong said they are aware of the importance of their positions on campus as representatives of the student body.
“Kaylee and I understand the gravity of our positions and will strive to listen to our peers on the issues we take on to improve student life,” Sullivan said in an email statement to The Fordham Ram.
There were just two contested elections for senate and executive board positions. Ashley Qamar, GSB ’20, was elected vice president of student life, and Gabrielle Perez, FCRH ’21, was elected vice president of sustainability.
Qamar said she hopes to change some elements of the House Committee to improve its work with student clubs. She also said she hopes to use her position to work on transparency.
“I hope to continue work to to make Fordham a more diverse and inclusive environment through my involvement in USG,” said Qamar.
Sullivan and Kaylee hope to improve transparency on USG, as well as spearhead initiatives encouraging voter participation ,both locally and nationally. They also want to work towards making Fordham a more inclusive environment, especially for the LGBTQ+ community. They hope to do so through co-programming and the Diversity Action Coalition (DAC).
Sullivan said he and Kaylee believe future USG elections should have more competition. They hope to encourage participation in future elections through increased transparency, a part of their platform they emphasized in conversations with The Fordham Ram. Sullivan and Wong said they hope to improve transparency through town halls, transparency hours and the creation of a permanent Marketing and Communications Committee.
“We believe that by making USG more transparent and visible, more people will know about USG and its functions here on campus,” said Sullivan. “This can result in more participation both in running for position and voting.”
Brian Reardon, FCRH ’18, current executive president of USG, said the number of uncontested positions this year is not unusual in comparison with prior years. He said he hopes students in the future further involve themselves on campus.
“I hope that the student body believes in the work that USG and all other clubs do, and that, in the coming years, they reinvigorate their on campus passion,” said Reardon.
This year’s election departs from last year’s in voter turnout, although the election for the 2017-2018 election was unusual in its own right. Over 1,700 people voted for the contested executive election last year after an involved and heated campaign, concluding with a busy Meet the Candidates night.
The newly elected executive president and vice president also hope to improve club functions. One initiative they plan to implement is a senator-club liaison, with which USG would assign club members with senate liaisons who they can use as a point of contact in student government.
Some senator positions remain unfilled. Reardon said USG will host special elections, like in years past, to fill those seats.
Like Sullivan and Wong, Brian Daaleman, FCRH ’19, wants to work on improving inclusivity on campus. He said he wants to work with orientation coordinators over the summer to improve Fordham’s relationship with the Bronx. He also wants to implement an initiative that allows transgender or gender non-conforming students to change to their preferred names on all non-legal documents at Fordham.
