The elections for the new president and vice president of the Undergraduate Student Government (USG) will begin on April 28. The Clarion spoke with one campaign to learn more about the candidates behind the platform as well as what they hope to bring to DU’s campus. 

Another team of candidates in the race, who had initially declared their interest in running, has reportedly received threats and is currently reconsidering their campaign. They are in contact with campus safety and have requested privacy at this time.

Ethan Turner, who is running for USG President, is a third-year finance major with a minor in leadership. He is from Pueblo, Colorado and went abroad to New Zealand this past fall. As for extracurriculars, Turner is a TA, part of the Pioneer Leadership Program (PLP), junior senator for USG and attends Young Life meetings. 

Noura Ali Abid, who is running as Turner’s vice president, is a second year international business major with a minor in Japanese. Ali Abid is planning to go abroad to Japan in the Spring. She is from Littleton, Colorado, and has “loved and appreciated living in Colorado [her] whole life.”

As for extracurriculars, she is a Daniels Business School TA, off-campus senator for USG and attends MSA meetings. 

Turner said his love for campus, Colorado and wanting to fix issues within the communities was his reason for running for USG president.

“I’m not the kind of person who just complains about an issue and leaves it at that. I like to ask, ‘Okay, what can we actually do about this?’ and focus on finding real, actionable steps,” Turner said. 

Turner hopes to become a facilitator of action for the students on campus. Ali Abid explained how she feels like the student population and USG should work closer together so that USG can be more transparent in what they are doing. 

“Being a part of USG has shown me how incredible the impact that student government can have on students, but there’s a disconnect between students and USG,” Ali Abid said. 

When asked how they plan to connect to the student body, both Turner and Ali Abid brought up their campaign slogan “A.C.T,” which stands for amplify, connect and transparency. 

Turner and Ali Abid will start holding weekly office hours that are open to the student body, and plan to “continue the roundtable discussions” that are held between the student body president and affinity groups on campus. 

They are especially focused on the transparency aspect of their slogan. Turner and Ali Abid hope to accomplish this by making the USG Instagram page more informative and digestible and provide an open channel for feedback.

 “We want to let people know what we’re trying to do, here’s what we’re hoping to do, here’s what we’ve currently got working in the realm,” said Turner. “We hope to be significantly more transparent than the current and past administrations.,” 

Both Turner and Ali Abid agreed that transparency not only between USG and students, but between admin and students is one of the biggest issues on campus. 

“I view our role more as a facilitator between the student body and the admin and helping the students hold the admin accountable, and therefore helping the admin make decisions that are more applicable to the students,” said Turner. 

 He emphasized the need to use our voices and hold the people elected accountable, especially during the uncertainty. Right now private institutions, like Harvard, are facing demands from the Trump administration in return for federal funding. Although it seems as only ivy schools are facing these billion dollar dilemmas, it is impossible to to ignore the broader implications for academic freedom and public trust. 

“It is our job to collaborate with admin to help respond to these orders, and although we are a smaller body, we are the electorate,” Turner said. 

To wrap up the interview, the candidates talked about a tradition that they would like to see implemented at DU.

Turner responded with the idea of a community dinner, where students could meet each other and clubs could connect with other people. 

Ali Abid responded with a community dinner/culture day, where students were invited to share traditional foods, music, and stories from their backgrounds — creating space for connection, celebration, and cross-cultural understanding. 

Voting for USG elections will start on Monday April 28 and close at 11:59 p.m. on Sunday May 4. A Qualtrics voting form will be sent to your DU email, where you can then vote for your selections.