Will USG President endorse a candidate?

Days before United Student Government candidates are officially announced and platforms are made public, Aileen Reynolds, FCRH ’14, and the departing executive president of USG, has declined to say whether she plans on making any public endorsements.

“I respectfully maintain my decline to comment,” she said to Fordham Daily on Sunday in response to a follow-up question. Though a source within USG has said she is waiting to review candidates’ platforms before making any decisions.

The two known candidates running to replace her — Nevin Kulangara, GSB ’15, and Tochi Mgbenwelu, FCRH ’15 — both said they have not spoken to Reynolds about any future endorsement.

It is unclear how much impact an endorsement from Reynolds may make on the presidential race. But if history is any indicator, an endorsement from a sitting USG president may tilt the scale for a selected candidate just enough.

The last time Fordham saw a contested USG presidential race was in 2012. Caitlin Meyer, FCRH ’12, then USG president, endorsed Stephen Erdman, FCRH ’13, as USG president and Reynolds as vice president. Erdman and Reynolds won that election.

At the same time, Meyer was widely considered to be a very popular USG president at the time. A stamp of approval from Reynolds may not carry as much clout given USG’s relatively low profile this year.