USC student government election could be the biggest in years, student president says

University of South Carolina students are about to elect their next student body president, and it could be the biggest election in years.

That’s because, as the university dials in on a replacement for President Harris Pastides and searches for a new provost, the new student leader is going to set the tone between the administration and the students, Student Body President Taylor Wright said.

“This student government is going to set the tone for what this next group (of administrators) thinks of the students,” Wright said. “It is going to be a big year.”

This year, five students are running for president and three for vice-president, representing issues ranging from sustainability and parking to securing rides to away football games. All but one of the candidates are undergraduates.

The winners will serve during the 2019-2020 school year.

The student body president is a non-voting member of the school’s board of trustees, the governing body that votes on all major financial decisions, tuition raises and major personnel decisions. But that doesn’t mean the student body president goes unheard. Student body presidents get to sit in on the trustees executive sessions, and Wright is a voting member of the presidential search committee.

Student government doesn’t have much of a say in tuition or fees, but it does control which student organizations or programming gets some of those funds, according to student government documents.

Members of student government are not paid, but top officials do receive a tuition stipend. The president receives $4,560; and the vice president, treasurer and speaker of the senate each get $3,900, according to student government documents.

Presidential candidate Patrick Ellis, whom is currently the speaker of the Senate, said he will push for expanding Wi-Fi coverage to 100 percent of campus, allow students to pay off parking tickets by donating the ticket amount to charity and setting up a program to help students get hired after graduating, Ellis said in an email.

“Serving as the Speaker of the Senate showed me the possibilities of enacting tangible change on USC’s campus through student government,” Ellis said. “I am running for Student Body President to revolutionize student representation at the University by solving the problems that students face everyday and improving the quality of the student experience.”

Junior political science major and presidential candidate Luke Rankin (the son of a S.C. state senator of the same name) said he wants to streamline parking by adding a kiosk at the parking garage where students can pay for parking with a debit card. Right now, all students can use is cash or a Carolina Card, he said. Rankin also wants to hold a 9/11 memorial event and donate the money raised to student-veterans, he said.

“I think it’s really important to note that everything on our platform is achieveable,” Rankin said.

Jacob Thompson, a third-year master’s student running for president, has prioritized the way he has run his campaign over any specific proposals, he said. He said he has saved money by hiring no campaign staff, hand-making campaign posters or printing them in black and white.

“I’ve run a very frugal campaign,” Thompson said. “Student government shouldn’t be pay to play. It should be about ideas.”

As for his ideas, Thompson said he wants to improve parking and recycling on campus, but declined to give specific policy proposals. He said he would use his position at the table with the board of trustees to urge them to keep tuition and costs down.

“Tuition increases (are) never a good thing for anybody,” Thompson said.

Junior finance major and vice presidential candidate Sophie Davish wants to expand student government’s mental health awareness week, Stigma Free USC, to include victims of sexual assault and PTSD. The current chief-of-staff to student government VP Mills Hayes also wants to expand the Carolina Closet program, which loans out business clothes to students who can’t afford them.

“I really want to give back to this university,” Davish said. “It’s given me so much. It’s given me a place to call home.”

Vice-presidential candidate Anthony Abate, who is running on the Rise for Carolina ticket alongside presidential candidate Casey Hamlin, a junior political science major, said one of his major priorities would be creating a system that helps students get to away football games.

Abate would do so by reviving and modifying the “Carolina Caravan” system, a now-defunct partnership between student government and faculty where the school would bus students to away games. Abate wants to revive the system and put students in charge.

“Since it was run by the faculty, it wasn’t fun. Nobody went,” he said of the old system.

Students can vote online at sc.edu/elections from Tuesday, Feb. 26, to Wednesday, Feb. 27.

Presidential candidates:

Casey Hamlin, junior political science major.

Jacob Thompson, third-year political science major

Luke Rankin, junior studying political science

Lyric Swinton, junior sports and entertainment major

Patrick Ellis, junior political science major

Vice-presidential candidates:

Anthony Abate, sophomore political science major

Sophie Davish, finance major

Kamryn Phlegar, international business major

Hamlin and Swinton did not reply to an email seeking comment. Phlegar was not available to comment.