Ella DeRose, ’27, and Kylie Thompson, ’27, were recently elected as the Allegheny Student Government president and vice president for the 2026-27 academic year.
The DeRose/Thompson ticket won the election with 62% of the votes, according to ASG Attorney General Anna Kohler, ’26. A total of 367 votes were cast; of those, the election certification committee and Dean for Student Life & Title IX Coordinator Trae Yeckley, who also serves as the ASG adviser, identified 32 invalid votes — 20 of which were cast for the DeRose/Thompson ticket and 12 of which were cast for the Aubrey Carion, ’27, and Amber Escobar, ’27, ticket.
DeRose and Thompson reflected on the achievement with The Campus during an interview on April 21.
“I’m very excited, it’s good to be back in ASG,” DeRose said, reflecting on her previous term as ASG President in 2024-25. “Obviously ASG is something I love. I’ve dedicated a lot of time to it, helping grow the organization and learning from it, and so I’m really excited to keep working towards new goals with a new cabinet.”
DeRose feels very passionate and confident about the executive cabinet she and Thompson have built. The pair was looking for a wide range of skills and experiences that complemented their own perspectives, spanning from sophomores to seniors. Their goal, they said, is to have a cabinet that can respond effectively and efficiently to the student body.
In their search for a cabinet, they kept an open mind to students who had not previously been involved in ASG in an effort to open up more student engagement.
“Anyone can run, anyone can apply,” DeRose said. “So we wanted to capitalize on the momentum of (former ASG president) Chezka (Quinola, ’27) and (former ASG vice president) Doug (Malcolm, ’26)’s success this year to get more people involved and open those conversations to more perspectives on campus.”
An important lesson that DeRose learned from her last term was utilizing her cabinet and relying on that support from her team.
“Our administration isn’t made up of a president and a vice president, every idea doesn’t come from us — it’s a response to what people are feeling, how people are experiencing life here at Allegheny,” DeRose said. “So being able to rely on students for their perspectives and learning how to listen and respond has definitely been the greatest lesson I’ve learned.”
DeRose and Thompson want ASG to be seen as a “listening ear” on campus. Their biggest hope is that students will feel comfortable reaching out to them whether that’s through email, attending ASG meetings or finding them on campus.
“I want to be somebody that people can come talk to with ideas,” Thompson said. “I want students to know more about ASG and to know that they can come talk to us.”
The pair wants the student body to become familiar with their leadership so they feel comfortable enough to connect with ASG about conversations and student voices.
“ASG does have more sway than we might think they do in terms of college plans, administration and progress on campus,” DeRose said. “So come say hello, let’s talk, let’s connect, because we want to listen to you. We’re here to respect those ideas.”
Thompson is excited for the coming year.
“Both me and Ella are very passionate people, and ASG is one of the things that we share passion for,” Thompson said. “I feel like we both are very driven people, we both get things done very well, and with being friends I think we work very well as a pair.”
DeRose echoed Thompson’s excitement.
“We want to thank everyone who came out and voted,” DeRose said. “This was one of the highest turnouts in an ASG election as of late, and so we were really excited to see people engaging and were really happy that we had a positive debate and a good election process. So thanks to everyone who came out, and keep up the enthusiasm as we head into next year.”
