USG election results: Swift and Angeletti

By Tyler Coventry, Copy Editor

The Undergraduate Student Government (USG) elections have concluded with the appointment of Taylor Swift as president and Ricky Angeletti as his vice president.

Swift, a junior political science major and Phi Delta Theta fraternity member, has served in the USG senate as the Academic and Financial Management Committee chair.

His running mate, Ricky Angeletti, is a junior majoring in accounting and economics. He has been involved with student organizations like the University Ambassadors and Emerging Leaders Program. Angeletti is a member of the Phi Delta Theta fraternity as well.

The pair ran against Garrett Sherba and Brandon Genetin, who have extensive experience in USG.

Sherba is currently USG’s chief justice. He is a junior at Akron, working towards a degree in political science and criminal justice. His running mate, Brandon Genetin, has held several USG positions, including justice, clerical justice and executive justice, the last of which he currently holds. Genetin is pursuing a degree in corporate finance and economics.

As this year’s Board of Elections chair, USG Associate Justice Michael Grund ran the election.

Grund reports that the election process and results were uncontested with no grievances filed. In the past, there have been issues with how candidates present themselves, how their campaigns were funded, and other discrepancies involving verbal attacks made by candidates and disparaging statements.

There was concern over the name of the now-president elect. Taylor Swift is the name of a popular musician; while it was not expected that voters would legitimately believe the pop star was involved, USG made sure the ballots would not mislead the uninformed.

Swift and Angeletti won 56 percent of the 750 student votes. This represents a small portion of the 18,000 students USG contacted through their university emails and an even smaller portion of the more than 20,000 undergraduates enrolled.

Michael Grund spoke on the low voter turnout, citing issues with transparency, accessibility and a lack of marketing.

Many students might not feel they have any business getting involved with USG; the majority of USG’s student interaction involves parking violation appeals. But USG’s door is always open to students with concerns or a desire to become involved.

USG has also had trouble marketing itself. While it consistently tables in the Union and has even moved its offices to a more open, convenient location on the third floor of the Union, low voter turnout has persisted for several elections.

“The problem isn’t that people don’t care about us, the problem is that people don’t know we exist,” said Grund, who hopes to change the reality of that sentiment.

Grund commented on how the election of a new USG president affects current students.

“Usually the president is a junior or senior finishing their college experience; so every time you get a new president, they’re more in touch with the current generation of students here,” Grund said. “Greater representation of groups on campus is always a good thing.”