SESP junior Donovan Cusick and McCormick junior Molly Whalen are running for Associated Student Government as co-presidents in the upcoming election. The two have served in various roles within ASG since Fall Quarter 2020.

“We’ve gotten involved in a lot of (ASG) projects, gotten to see a lot of projects brought over the finish line, but also start a lot of things,” Whalen said. “At a certain point, you just have a motivation to see that through.” 

Whalen is a member of current ASG President Jason Hegelmeyer and Vice President Cusick’s cabinet, serving as executive officer of accountability. She’s also served as policy research chair and a Communication senator. Cusick, also interim chair of the Student Activities Finances Committee, has previously served as chief of staff, an Election Commission chair and a SESP senator.

Both will participate in a Presidential Town Hall at McCormick Foundation Center at 8 p.m. Tuesday, which will be livestreamed on The Daily’s social media pages. The official voting period for the election will be from Thursday to Saturday. 

The slate’s platform prioritizes resource accessibility with a focus on student group funding, as well as community building. 

“We complement each other very well,” Cusick said. “I think we work incredibly well together. We are both very passionate and excitable, especially about what we do. We each bring skills to the positions that really allow for us to have a strong working relationship.” 

Improving student group funding, administrative relationships

Student group financing is one of the areas where ASG has the most power, Whalen said. While the organization is empowered to distribute money collected from the ASG student activity fee, Whalen said she and Cusick are trying to establish good relationships with Northwestern administration to get as much additional funding for student groups as possible. 

Cusick said he and Whalen have gotten to a place with NU administrators where they can be “straightforward” when communicating student demands. 

“Administrators want to hear from students and (we provide) a good opportunity for them to hear from students,” Cusick said. “They know us well and are ready to continue to have productive conversations considering that they already know where we come from.” 

Whalen added the candidates’ previous and current roles on ASG help them see a “wider playing field” of all the groups asking for increased funding, which helps them contextualize individual demands into a larger picture to communicate with the administration. 

Cusick and Whalen said they have also worked on student financing internally this academic year to reform the Student Activities Finances Committee’s long-standing tier system. 

[Read The Daily’s investigation into ASG finance regulations.]

The tier system allows older student groups on campus to receive funding advantages, which Whalen said disadvantaged newer groups. The candidates will roll out their reforms at the end of the academic year, she said. 

“If you were an older group, you were entitled to a certain percentage increase for certain events every time, and that made it really hard for new groups — which were largely affinity groups — to get the same amount of money,” Whalen said. “The way that’s been done in the past has not been equitable.” 

Increased resources and partnerships within the NU community

Whalen and Cusick are also focused on advancing community building and support. The pair said they want to advocate for student representation on the Board of Trustees.

“Universities are for students,” Cusick said. “We’re the reason that the institution exists and what it is there to serve. Having student interests represented and considered is something that’s just incredibly important.” 

He said student experiences should be factored into “important decisions” the Board makes, including those involving tuition costs and University investments. Whalen added lacking student representation on the Board becomes a “transparency issue” when students feel the impacts of these decisions without having a stake in making them. 

According to the ticket’s platform, Whalen and Cusick also aim to increase outreach to Residential Services, which has historically worked “very little” with ASG. Whalen added they will also try to increase resource accessibility, especially for first-generation and low-income students, by expanding programs like Books for ‘Cats.

Addressing voter turnout in a one-ticket election 

In 2019, the uncontested ASG presidential election had one of the lowest student body turnouts  in at least 10 years, with 852 votes cast. 

Election Commissioner and Weinberg freshman Enzo Banal said the Election Commission, which aims to ensure the election process is free and fair, is concerned about lower voter turnout. He said the committee has been “behind” their optimal targets in past elections. But he added he still wants students to engage in the election so they can understand how the process works. 

“This has applicability for future years,” Banal said. “Not every single campaign is going to be just two candidates that are running on the same ticket. If we build that grassroots foundation this year, then, in future years, people will understand when and where the process is, and be more incentivized to vote going forward.” 

Though they are running uncontested, Whalen said she and Cusick are still doing “all of the campaign work,” and are meeting with various student groups and their new executive boards. Cusick added improving voter turnout was a goal of their executive board last year. 

“We still want to see voter turnout,” Cusick said. “We’re still doing all of the regular stuff to try and campaign. We’re not treating it as if we’re just gonna walk away with it. That’s not what we’re here to do.” 

This story has been updated with a photo of the candidates. 

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @joannah_11

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