We, as current and former members of Associated Student Government’s executive board and student group leaders on campus, are proudly supporting Joji Syed and Archie Baskaran for ASG President and Vice President. We encourage all those who are passionate about Northwestern student groups to cast your vote for Joji and Archie this Thursday and Friday.

We have over 450 student groups on this campus, and they touch the lives of almost every student on campus. Student groups put on large-scale events that bring NU together. They foster dialogue and conversation between different communities. They create and build community on campus. Without student groups, none of this would be possible. That’s why we believe that student groups are at the heart of the NU experience.

As former student group leaders themselves, Joji and Archie not only recognize the value of student groups but also are prepared to tackle a chief issue affecting all groups on campus: a lack of equal access to information. Centralizing resources and creating an internal, transparent calendar on a one-stop-shop student group website will be immensely helpful for student group leaders when they’re planning events. Improving advisor training will reduce miscommunication between student group leaders and their advisors. But Joji and Archie won’t stop there. Expanding SOFO hours and moving transactions online will make the contracts and reimbursements process incredibly more efficient, freeing up precious resources so that we, as student leaders, can focus on our primary goal: putting on quality events to build the NU community. When enacted, their policies will make programming, collaboration and community building so much easier for student group leaders and as a result, directly impact each and every student.

Other candidates have mentioned that they will help student groups, but only Joji and Archie have made student groups a priority from the start. Joji and Archie recognize that making progress on all the core issues affecting campus – social justice, mental health and alcohol policy – is best achieved by first elevating the very student groups already fighting these battles everyday. And they have extended that same logic to the second part of their platform. They recognize that ASG cannot accomplish meaningful change on campus without working directly with student experts and leaders. In its entirety, their platform emphasizes that student groups are the agents of change and that ASG is their ally — not their leader — in making this change possible.

We believe it’s time for a NU Deal for student groups. We hope you’ll join us in voting for Joji and Archie to make that vision a reality.

Signed,

Akhil Katakam and Anna Radakrishnan, Former SASA Co-Presidents
Alex David, President of CASE
Amar Shah, Former SASA Co-President
Anisha Ghosh, Tufaan Entertainment Co-Executive
Aravind Kalluri, Former Brown Sugar A Cappella President
Arielle Miller, Former DM Executive Co-Chair
Austen Bhayani, Former TASC President
Carly Kleinbart, President of Northwestern University Women’s Filmmakers Alliance
Erin Dierker, Co-President & Co-founder of Women in Business
Eric Oringer, ASG A-Status Finances Vice-President
Erica Zou, Treasurer of Extreme Measures A Cappella
Gauri Rangrass, President of Brown Sugar A Cappella
Harry Tong, TASC Vice President
Jonathan Kamel, Former President of Wildcats for Israel
Justine Hung, SASA Co-President
Kathir Sundarraj, President of Delta Sigma Pi
Kate Camarata, President of UNITY Charity Fashion Show
Kevin Harris, Former ASG Community Relations Vice-President & DM Executive Co-Chair
Krush Patel, Former President of MiniChefz
Mackenzie Schneider, Former ASG A-Status Finances Vice-President
Maddie Rees, President of Students Consulting for Non-Profit Organizations
Madhu Venkidusamy, President of Northwestern Raas
Madison Rinder, Wildcats for Israel Co-President
Matthew Faden, Co-President of Points for a Purpose
Michael Oppenheim, Co-President of F&F Marketing and President of The Insight Group
Mitchell Caminer, Hillel President
Mitesh Mehta, Captain of Northwestern Bhangra
Natasha Kamat, President of Anubhav
Naveen Reddy, Former SASA Treasurer
Niki Patel, Tufaan Entertainment Co-Executive
Nikita Kulkarni, Vice-President of UNITY Charity Fashion Show
Parag Dharmavarapu, Former ASG Student Activities Vice-President & SASA Co-President
Quentin Heilbroner, Former College Democrats President
Rohan Mehta, President of ISBE
Ross Krasner, Wildcats for Israel Co-President
Sandeep Bharadwaj, Former President of Global Brigades at Northwestern University
Shaan Somani, SASA Co-President
Simran Chadha, ASG Chief of Staff
Taimur Rehan, Former President of TedX Northwestern
Vinutha Lakshminarayanan, Co-President & Co-Founder of Women in Business (WIB), Co-Director of Move in Move Out (MIMO)
Xavier Price-Kirkham, Chair of NU Nights
Sarah Moss, President of NU Active Minds