A.S. and college council election campaigning officially kicked off on Thursday, March 5 at 8 p.m. during the Mandatory Candidates Meeting in the Price Center Forum.
During the meeting, A.S. Elections Manager Ryan Huyler presented election guidelines and announced the names of all the candidates from each college. After the meeting concluded, candidates were officially allowed to begin campaigning.
This year there are three candidates running for president, two of whom are running on the same slate. Dominick Suvonnasupa, one of the two presidential candidates from Tritons United, told the UCSD Guardian about their decision to run simultaneously.
“We wanted to give the opportunity for the students to see both sides of the same coin,” Suvonnasupa said.
According to Suvonnasupa, Tritons United’s platform covers four aspects: spirit, outreach, advocating for students and refinement. Regarding his personal campaign strategy, he stated that he wants to be a little less political and a little more hands-on.
“My focus really is getting the students what they need: providing them with real services that will make them proud of their degrees, socially and career-wise,” Suvonnasupa stated.
Joey Giltner is the second candidate from Tritons United running for A.S. Council president. Giltner told the Guardian that the main goal of his campaign is to bring together the student population at UCSD. In addition, Giltner would like to focus on establishing an A.S. Office of Alumni Relations.
“The alumni here at UCSD are not as strong as you would see at other UC [school]s,” Giltner said. “If we can get an office in A.S. [Council] that deals directly with alumni and bringing them back to campus to offer students opportunities, I think that would be ideal for this campus.”
Bryan Dierking, the Tritons United candidate for Vice President of Campus Affairs, stated that, if elected, he would try to make A.S. Council more efficient.
“We need to move toward a more efficient model where the AVPs and the representatives are able to do the same things they do in council, but are able to do that in a way that occurs in a separate environment from Council,” Dierking suggested.
Students Determined’s Vice President of Campus Affairs candidate Taylor Valdivia told the Guardian that her party platform consists of four major aspects: mental health, student resource accessibility, access and retention, and Triton equality and community and empowerment.
“Students Determined believes students have the power to make transformative change on the UC San Diego campus, in the community and in the world,” Valdivia said. “We fundamentally believe that no student should be excluded from the student movement.”
Their presidential candidate is Travis Miller. He was not available for comment by press time.
Krystl Fabella, Students Determined’s candidate for Vice President of External Affairs, explained the direction of the external office to the Guardian.
“[The goals of the Office of External Affairs are] moving toward affordability, controlling the tuition crises and helping students recognize their voice in UC [system]wide injustices and how they are empowered through the office,” Fabella said. “Too often, I hear that students do not know what ‘external issues’ means, what [the University of California Student Association] does and how the office empowers them.”
The final campuswide slate is Tritons FIGHT.
The A.S. General elections will be held Monday, April 6 through Friday, April 10.
