USF Student Government voting is open. Here’s why some students are voting.

*USF students line up to vote in the Student Government election at the Marshall Student Center on Thursday. ORACLE PHOTO/KEATON DUKE*

Melissa Kumar said she was motivated to vote in this year’s Student Government election because of the upcoming search for USF’s new president.

The student body president will vote on university-wide decisions, such as University President Rhea Law’s replacement, since they have a seat on the university’s Board of Trustees.

“By voting for a student body president, I agree with policy-wise, I feel like I have a direct say in Rhea Law’s replacement,” the senior biology major said.

Kumar is just one of the 3,095 students at the Tampa campus who cast their ballot in SG’s election as of Wednesday afternoon, according to Jennifer Bielen, associate director of Student Government Advising.

Some of the positions students could vote for include student body president, vice president, campus governors and other roles.

Kumar attended the SG presidential debate last month to narrow down her choices and ultimately voted for Jamar Blaze Smith for president and Brayden Jahn for vice president.

She said she liked some of the initiatives they presented, such as increasing parking on campus.

“I feel like I would trust the presidential nominee to make the right decisions alongside the Board of Trustees,” Kumar said.

Sai Balusu, a business administration graduate student, said he went to the MSC polling station on Wednesday to vote for Sumit Jadhav and Caio Esmeraldi, who are running for president and vice president, respectively.

Balusu said he voted for the candidates after they approached him in the USF Library and shared their goals.

“[Jadhav] reached out to me in the Library and told me about his campaign,” he said.

Balusu said he wasn’t “super familiar” with SG’s initiatives and policies, but the fact that the ticket was “actively” talking to students on campus inspired him to vote.

“I believe they will be a good fit,” he said.

But while Kumar and Balusu had someone in mind when they went to a polling station, others simply hoped to bag some goodies.

Students were able to pick up free pizza and T-shirts after they voted in person.

*Students who voted in person for the Student Government election could receive free T-shirts. ORACLE PHOTO/ KEATON DUKE*

Amanda McClure said she stopped to vote because she saw the free pizza being given to voters at the polling place outside Cooper Hall.

For the freshman health sciences major, this was her first time getting involved with SG elections.

“To be so honest, I saw pizza being handed out to people and wanted to see how I could get some,” McClure said. “I don’t know much about what our Student Government even does.”

Because she did not research the candidates, McClure voted for them “at random.”

McClure said she voted for Smith and Jahn. She also voted for Emma Goodwin and Ethan Walsh for the Tampa governor and lieutenant governor positions.

McClure said she hopes the candidates she voted for can preserve diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives and increase the budgets of student organizations.

However, she said she is still unsure how SG officials can impact university policies.

In January 2024, the Florida Board of Governors banned public universities from spending state or federal money for DEI initiatives. President Donald Trump and his administration have also placed more pressure on diversity programs, telling universities and colleges to eliminate diversity programs or face the loss of federal funding if they didn’t.

“I don’t really know what Student Government can do when it comes to federal policies,” McClure said.

Any programs or initiatives created by SG cannot violate federal laws, according to the SG statutes. The SG senate can also pass resolutions on behalf of the student body that are sent to administration but do not directly create policies.

Junior history major Stephen Akrin said he voted to support his friend Alyssa Hubbard, who is running for vice president alongside Bita Aliakbarzadeh as president.

Although he originally voted “to be a good friend,” he became invested in choosing representatives who could potentially expand the budgets of student organizations.

The USF SG Senate and Campus Council is responsible for allocating Activity and Service fees to fund student organizations, according to the SG’s legislative branch website.

Akrin said he found the social media campaigns of different representatives and chose to vote on those whose goals were to reduce budget cuts to student organizations.

“Some of the senators I voted for include Arjun Manohar and Thomas O’Reilly,” Akrin said. “I found their campaigns on Instagram.”

The SG voting period will end on Thursday, and the results will be announced next week. Students can vote online or at the MSC Patio and Cooper Hall on Thursday.

Although Kumar voted for Smith and Jahn, she said she felt confident in each presidential ticket after attending the presidential debate.

“Whoever does win, I know USF will remain taken care of,” Kumar said.

Additional reporting by Isabella Oefelein.