The Daily Gamecock interviewed candidates for the student body vice president position who discussed past initiatives and what they each bring to the table.
Emily Dengler, third-year public health student
One of Dengler’s main goals, if elected, is to revamp programs such as Carolina BeYOUtiful Week and Knowledge Empowers You Week, or KEY Week, which focuses on pre-professional development. She said she wants to do this by adding events to each week and expanding the outreach to all USC students.
Dengler, who is running with presidential candidate Aidan Baker on the EVOLVE campaign, said she would help recognize a variety of student organizations at the university by giving them the chance to be highlighted on the Student Government social media and receive a monetary prize.
“We have so many great organizations on this campus, and a lot of them don’t really have the platform to show off what they’ve been doing or even the resources to continue all their great work,” Dengler said. “So, we really want to focus on not having Student Government be above these organizations, but partnering with them because, at the end of the day, we’re also a student organization.”
Dengler also said she would create a list on the Student Government website of every university resource available to students and advertise it on social media in order to streamline the search process for them.
According to Dengler, students should vote for her and her running mate, Baker, because of the “diverse skill set” they bring to the Student Government executive positions.
“We’re really great friends, which I think is the first step into a working relationship and what makes us work really well together, because we understand each other,” Dengler said.
Ashlyn Osborne, second-year marketing student
Ashlyn Osborne, who is running with presidential candidate Caden Askew, aims to keep many current initiatives if elected to the vice president position.
"Some of the great ones I really like ... Swipe Out Hunger is a really big one because there are a lot of students that rely on Swipe Out Hunger, and all the resources like Swipe Out Hunger, Carolina Closet ... and airport shuttles are all so that every student can find success in their college careers," Osborne said.
Osborne also touched on her plans to improve mental health services at USC. She said she hopes to improve the accessibility and personalization of counseling. By instituting counselor profiles, Osborne said she hopes to streamline the appointment process and get students matched with a counselor sooner.
Osborne said it's essential to develop strong relationships with different student organizations, "making sure that they know when they can come speak with you."
She said students should vote for her because she has extensive experience with on- and off-campus programming for events.
"I also bring in a lot of outside experience from my role as vice president of community service [for her business fraternity] and as an orientation leader. I'm very [knowledgeable] in campus resources from those and from the trainings of being an orientation leader," Osborne said.