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Name: Vishal A. Aswani
Year: Third of a five-year degree program
Hometown: Daytona Beach, Fla.
Clubs/Activities: SA senator (SEAS-U), WRGW Business Director, STAR tour guide, GW Housing Programs house proctor, physics and astronomy tutor, GW admissions office online blogger, Society of Physics Students executive officer, GW astrophysics researcher.
Top three platform goals: Student rights, greening the University, strengthening the community.
SA experience: Fall 2006 SA senator (SEAS-U), 2006-2007 Student Representative on the Joint Committee of Faculty and Students, 2007-2008 SA senator (SEAS-U).
Campaign Web site: www.vishalaswani.com
Endorsements: Allied in Pride, Engineer’s Council, College Democrats.
Which one of your competitors would get your vote if you were not running for SA president? Tarek Al-Hariri
Favorite spot in D.C.: The back of the Lincoln Memorial, facing the Arlington Bridge. It’s very calm and relaxing (but there are a lot of bugs!).
What do you like on your Chipotle burrito? The hottest sauce they have, sour cream, lettuce, cheese and green peppers.
Student Association presidential hopeful Vishal Aswani said he will make student rights his main priority if he is elected to the SA’s top job.
Aswani, a junior and SA senator for the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, said he will create a student bill of rights, increase school spirit and work on environmental sustainability by proposing plans as soon as he gets into office.
“We need someone who can put up an answer now and work behind the scenes (to get more done),” Aswani said. “A big focus of my campaign is to say we have all these issues that are wrong, but to propose an immediate solution.”
As a member of the SA, house proctor and former Colonial Inauguration Cabinet member in 2007, Aswani said his experience will help him work with University officials and accomplish goals.
“One thing I say I will love about my background . is I have been able to see the inner workings of the University and know how I can make (my knowledge) benefit students,” he said. Aswani said he will use his knowledge and experience to eliminate mandatory spending at J Street and reinstate the venue’s weekend hours, he said.
“Sodexho quickly enacted new and divisive changes this summer when students were off-campus and failed to seek a consensus from the student body,” Aswani said in his official platform.
Running for SA president is not something Aswani is doing just to add to his resume, he said. Instead, Aswani said he is running for president because he said he is passionate about advocating for student needs.
“I am not someone who will be applying for the Presidential Administrative Fellowship when I’m done with college nor am I someone who will be entering a life in politics after school ends,” Aswani said on his campaign Web site. “I am just your typical guy.”
Aswani said that as president, he will give out his cell phone number to students.
“We really need a candidate to stand up to the administration,” Aswani said. “I am one of the students, and I am willing to fight for the students, and my voice will be heard.”
