A public forum for candidates running for the Kent State Undergraduate Student Government office was held Tuesday in The Nest. Candidates used the forum to discuss their respective platforms, followed by a Q and A session involving current USG members, other candidates and audience members. 

Many of the candidates stressed the importance of USG representing students, cultural diversity and Kent State as a brand. Olivia Mullen, current Senator for the College of Arts and Sciences, explained how USG seeks to represent students.

“I think that USG represents students to the administration fairly well; we all are students and want to advocate for success and make this university better than when we came here,” Mullen said, who is now running for Director of Student Involvement. 

The upcoming election will consist of a referendum vote in addition to voting for senators and directors. If passed, the referendum will install student governments across all regional Kent State campuses.

“We believe that aligning all of the universities and using all our resources, being an advocate for all our students across all campus will make a bigger impact and impact students in a bigger way than we could with just one student government at the Kent campus,” Executive Director Brian Cannon said. 

 The USG elections will take place from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on March 7-8. Students can vote on the USG website, as well as through FlashLine. 

Contact Anthony Calvaruso at [email protected].