Undergraduate Student Government President Chris Cade and Vice President Isaiah Nire. Credit: Courtesy of Aashvi Soni
The Undergraduate Student Government’s newest leaders have much to look forward to for their first full semester in office and they say hearing from the student body is at the top of their list.
Chris Cade and Isaiah Nire were elected as the president and vice president respectively of the USG in April. They ran on a platform of student advocacy, per prior Lantern reporting.
Cade, a third-year in public policy analysis, political science and public policy and management, said that he wants to be approachable to the student body.
“Historically, people have not really felt like USG is approachable, and we’re really trying to change that culture across the entire institution,” Cade said.
Cade mentioned several ways students can get in contact with USG; students can message on Instagram, attend meetings or simply stop them on the street.
“Students come up to us all the time and we stop and talk to them,” Nire, a third-year in finance, said.
One way Cade and Nire plan to reach students is through the clubs active on campus this semester.
“We’re beginning a strong outreach plan to reach out to every leader of every student organization,” Cade said.
An email will be sent to the organizations offering resources of what the USG does, Cade said. This accessibility is a hallmark of the administration that Cade and Nire said they plan to spearhead going into the 2026-27 academic year.
“Chris and I have been running on a pretty much open-door policy,” Nire said.
Advocating on the student body’s behalf is a strong motivator for the new president, who is making efforts to lessen the financial burden of much of the undergraduate student population, said Cade.
“I worked four on-campus jobs before coming to this position,” Cade said. “[I am] trying to make sure that the 11,500 student employees are paid appropriately and have all the benefits and resources to help them launch their actual careers post-graduation.”
As for the vice president, Nire said he is especially pushing for more dining options on campus. He gives the example of a late-night, hot-food dining option that students can swipe for when studying into the later hours of the evening.
Letting their own experiences as students at Ohio State shape their efforts in USG, Cade and Nire said they aspire to lessen the gap between undergraduate students and their own government.
Rather than a secluded government body, Cade said he aims for the USG to take up more of a space on campus.
“We want to be accessible and open for students to reach out to us because ultimately, Isaiah and I can’t do our jobs if we don’t have students coming to us with issues,” Cade said. “There’s probably a million things I can talk to administrators about, but that means nothing if it’s not informed by the students.”
