For this year’s ASUCI election, the 2026-2027 ASUCI president position falls between two candidates: second year political science and economics double major Gabriel Mutsvangwa, and third year microbiology and immunology major Summer Tram Anh Phan.
As stated by the current ASUCI Constitution, the ASUCI president’s role falls into 11 distinct points, from “[Monitoring] the health and wellbeing of the Association and the student body which it represents” to representing the whole of the university in its dealings with the University of California (UC) and much more. The president not only sits as the voice for students on campus — attempting to better student wellness and policies through executive actions — but as the direct line between students to chancellors, campus heads and toward the UC system. The president stands as a representative of the student body and UCI as a whole.
Mutsvangwa, running with ANTthem, told New University that he believes the president stands as a “touch point between the student body and the chancellor,” stating that he wants to “ensure students have a platform or have a resource to voice their concerns,” regarding classes or campus life. He hopes to bring these points up to Chancellor Howard Gillman and other departments.
Phan, running with AMPlifying Anteaters, also emphasizes the role of ASUCI president on campus to New University, saying that she believes “that students should be focusing on education” without the worry of outside influences and troubles. Phan plans to do this by maximizing institutional programs and resources that UCI implements for students under the president and ASUCI leaderships — such as the UCI Basic Needs and Counseling Centers. .
Both candidates similarly share a drive to bring ASUCI and student government into a new public space, as both see campus resources and government life as overlooked and underused.
“What I want to do is actually engage with the student body regularly as president, [to] make sure that students understand ASUCI, not just as a student government on this side of campus, but as a resource for our entire campus, and to ensure that [ASUCI] can increase accessibility for every single student” Mutsvangwa said.
To do that, Mutsvangwa, who is on the Vice Chancellor’s Student Affairs council, plans to expose the student government through emails and social media, allowing students to better understand and learn about the resources accessible to them — with an emphasis on how to receive these resources. He also plans to meet regularly with Registered Campus Organizations (RCO) and various minority groups on campus to dissect issues around UCI, creating a direct line between communities and the student government — resulting, hopefully, in an inclusive and culturally driven campus and community life.
“I think that there is a lot of resources at UCI that a lot of students are not aware of because [university] centers fail to make them visible,” Phan said.“I think that’s part of the role as president, but another part is to advocate for an expansion of these resources, just because I know as of right now, the resources do not, cannot meet the need of every single student.”
In order to enlarge those resources, Phan, who is currently the Academic Affairs Vice President, hopes to dive into the institutional issues affecting students. She plans to focus on fundamental changes towards housing, basic needs, female hygiene accessibility and more by regularly meeting with council presidents at other UC campuses — as well as UC president James Milliken — in order to find common issues that should be addressed and advocated with Irvine’s Chancellor and others.
Both candidates hold issues with the uncertainty of the financial aid process at UCI, with the two expressing a desire to simplify the process and award terminology to avoid confusion within students. Both Mutsvangwa and Phan believe that the inability to understand one’s own financial aid packet not only hinders their academic life, but also their basic way of living with food insecurity and housing or enrollment trouble.
Both candidates have been involved in campus life through their positions in ASUCI. With Phan, her role as Academic Affairs Vice President allowed her to advocate for student life and resources, with her work in a proposed leave of absence policy and the disbursement of academic supplies. Similarly, Mutsvangwa’s role as At Large Senator allowed him to engage with RCO’s and various communities, while auditing ASUCI’s budget.
If elected, Mutsvangwa and Phan each hope that their proposed terms not only affect the current way of life at UCI, but the future fundamentally. For Phan, she hopes her current policy changes linger after her term, stating her plan to “Leave [UCI] better than I found it,” while also hoping her community driven resource mentality creates a student body proud to attend UCI. Mutsvangwa hopes that “Students will be able to understand, engage, and work alongside ASCUI,” to make a more diverse and safe campus that incoming students can ultimately enjoy and succeed in.
With presidential debates coming up on April 9, Mutsvangwa encourages students to know “This is your campus too,” and that he is, “Not just a guy in an office or a guy with a title. I’m a student like you.” While Phan encourages students to reach out to her personally to discuss proposals and concerns, while also saying, “I have the experience, I have the relationships built to advocate for you all, efficiently and effectively.”
Voting begins April 13 at 9:00 a.m and concludes on April 19 at 5:00 p.m.
Both candidates’ full statements can be read here.
Benjamin Flores is an Assistant Sports Editor for the spring 2026 quarter. He can be reached at floresbt@uci.edu