The Associated Students of the University of California, Riverside (ASUCR) voting booths will be open from April 27 through May 1. With any election, it is of utmost importance to know as much as possible about the potential representatives of next year’s student government. The purpose of The Highlander’s endorsements is to help inform students about candidates for various positions and provide context on what these candidates have to offer so when students are ready to vote, they know what each candidate has to offer. The following students are the candidates that The Highlander Editorial Board believes are qualified and deserve an endorsement for the 2026-2027 ASUCR elections.
Executive Cabinet (ECAB) Candidate Endorsements:
Executive Vice President: Rohan Vig
Rohan Vig has been endorsed for Executive Vice President for his clear commitment to bridging environmental health, social justice and student advocacy in ways that feel both personal and actionable. As a neuroscience major, his long-standing interest in these issues is not abstract — it is shaped by his lived experience growing up in Riverside, where poor air quality directly impacted his family. This grounding shows in both his research on local climate action plans and his consistent volunteer work, signaling a candidate who understands how policy translates into real-world consequences.
What sets current Senator Vig apart from other candidates is his ability to connect that awareness to tangible student engagement. His proposals — including “What Happened Wednesdays” and expanded video outreach — reflect a sharp understanding that transparency and accessibility are key to rebuilding student trust in ASUCR. His track record as one of the most communicative senators with student media further reinforces his credibility as a candidate focused on accountability and visibility.
Vice President of External Affairs: Joseph Anastacio
For Joseph Anastacio, external affairs is not just about policy — it’s about visibility. By pointing to the small percentage of Pacific Islander students at UCR and the persistent misunderstandings surrounding communities like the Inland Empire and Central Valley, Anastacio frames advocacy as a matter of representation as much as legislation. His work centers on amplifying voices that are often overlooked and addressing the structural gaps that contribute to that invisibility.
As Legislative Director, he’s already been doing that work — building connections with housing initiatives, engaging in labor conversations and representing students in national spaces like the University of California Student Association (UCSA). His work reflects a strategic approach to external affairs rooted in coalition work. While running uncontested, Anastacio emphasizes that his campaign is more about strengthening communication — particularly through partnerships with student media — to ensure students are aware of and connected to the advocacy being done on their behalf.
Vice President of Internal Affairs: Pia Prashanth
Pia Prashanth isn’t shying away from the reality students are facing — she’s naming it directly. From food insecurity to the rising cost of education, her campaign centers the idea that students shouldn’t have to fight just to stay afloat. As a Cal Grant recipient and longtime advocate for gender equity, Prashanth’s platform is shaped by lived experience, not just policy talking points.
Her proposals focus on expanding what already works — like Scotty Eats, a food recovery and meal redistribution program — while filling in the gaps, including meal support for commuter students and increased transparency over textbook costs. At the same time, she’s calling out what hasn’t worked, pointing to a lack of initiative within the Office of Internal Affairs and pushing for stronger relationships with campus departments to better support students. Whether it’s advocating for campus safety resources or ensuring UCR remains a sanctuary campus, Prashanth’s campaign is rooted in access, accountability and follow-through.
Vice President of Marketing & Promotions: Rosie Liu
Rosie Liu has been endorsed for her clear-eyed assessment of ASUCR’s current marketing strategy and her forward-thinking approach to improving student engagement. Identifying an overreliance on text-heavy infographics, Liu proposes a shift toward more dynamic, short-form video content — including TikToks and Instagram Reels — to better align with how students consume information. Her emphasis on accessibility, from reducing dense text to creating more digestible and visually engaging content, reflects a broader understanding of the barriers that limit student engagement.
But her platform goes beyond just making content look better. Liu is also focused on fixing what happens behind the scenes, from aligning marketing staff through weekly workshops to streamlining the approval process that slows posts down. She’s thinking about access too — expanding outreach to campus TV screens for students who aren’t on social media, while ensuring graphics are legible and inclusive. With a focus on visibility and restructuring, Liu’s campaign centers making ASUCR communication clearer, faster and harder to miss.
Legislative Branch Candidate Endorsements:
Bourns College of Engineering (BCOE) Senator: Hamza Abdallah
Hamza Abdallah is focusing on something a lot of BCOE students quietly struggle with: figuring out what comes next. From navigating technical interviews to even figuring out where to start with internships, Abdallah is calling out the gap between opportunity and access — and pushing for clearer, more accessible support systems.
His platform centers on two key areas: internships and research. Abdallah identifies a disconnect in the internship process, particularly the lack of accessible guidance and preparation for technical interviews, and proposes expanding resources through more accessible campus services. He also highlights disparities in research accessibility for BCOE students, advocating for increased outreach from professors. At the same time, Abdallah is thinking beyond academics, advocating for practical improvements like better bus access and more affordable grocery options. Combined with his emphasis on collaboration and transparency — even being the only candidate to directly ask how to better work with student media — his campaign centers accessibility and follow-through.
From the Editorial Board: Behind the Endorsement Process
To maintain transparency on how we endorsed candidates, The Highlander is releasing the steps we took to ensure that the process was fair and unbiased. Prior to the beginning of the campaign season, The Highlander reached out to ASUCR’s Election Committee to have an email sent with information on how to be endorsed by the paper if the candidate was interested. The email entailed how to sign up for an interview with the News Team. These interviews act as a method of information for the Editorial Board to understand a candidate’s goals and the experience they have gained over the years. Using this information, as well as supplemental information from reports and meetings throughout the year, a profile was made for each candidate who had come for an interview. During a meeting of the Editorial Board, The Highlander discussed each of the interviewed candidates at length in order to determine who we would want to endorse as a paper. In order to receive an endorsement, a candidate needed to receive approval from 80% of the Editorial Board.
Candidates that completed interview with the The Highlander:
- For the position of President: Bruce Riazi
- For the position of Executive Vice President: Rohan Vig and Chloe Wang
- For the position of Vice President of External Affairs: Joseph Anastacio
- For the position of Vice President of Internal Affairs: Pia Prashanth
- For the position of Vice President of Marketing & Promotions: Rosie Liu, Keith Leung and Dominic Herrera
- For the position of Bourns College of Engineering Senator: Hamza Abdallah, Veda Vikram and Sarah Zohary
Positions that did not reach out for an interview with The Highlander:
- Vice President of Finance
- Vice President of Sustainability
- Vice President of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
- International Student Director
- College of Humanities, Arts & Social Sciences Senator
- College of Natural & Agricultural Sciences Senator
- School of Public Policy Senator
- School of Business Senator
- School of Education Senator
