Cassidy Diaz
Assistant Editor
Evan Lyons and Savanna Castillo were elected as the Associated Students of the University of La Verne’s president and executive vice president, respectively, for the 2026-2027 academic year. Lyons, who was re-elected for a second term, is a junior political science major, and Castillo is a sophomore English major.
The election results were announced last month. Through a formal endorsement process, Lyons and Castillo had support from ASULV members. They also campaigned across campus prior to the March election.
During their tabling campaigns, they discussed their future plans and commitments to their constituents.
“Through ASULV I am able to just oversee multiple issues and areas of campus to make it a better place and make it a better community,” said Castillo, who currently serves as a senator at large and vice president of communications.
Castillo is also a student ambassador for the admissions office, a current pledge for a sorority Iota Delta sorority and a member of the English club.
What inspired Castillo to join ASULV is her motivation to be an active community. She hopes to one day be a corporate lawyer.
“I just felt like student government was definitely the way to go to get involved on campus as my first year being here I wanted to make as many connections as possible and be able to help out my community,” Castillo said.
Castillo said that Lyons encouraged her to run for executive vice president.
“I had talked to him a lot about wanting to be ASULV president one day,” Castillo said. “So I worked a lot with him and followed him closely to see his roles, his responsibilities and how he takes care of everything.”
The executive vice president’s job involved staying in contact with University administration to ensure that students are part of the shared governance process along with faculty and staff.
Castillo said she will seek feedback from her student constituents.
She said she will continue some of the projects she started as a senator this year, including working on dealing with the Metro A-line to get free or reduced fare to take the newly extended light rail.
“Everywhere I go I’m always asking people… ‘hey how can the campus improve, or have you seen any issues or anything like that?” Castillo said. “Just to make sure I’m always getting feedback and to bring it up to ASULV.”
“(Castillo) has been amazing and … is very time sensitive with everything, which you really need when it comes to being involved in these kinds of conversations,” Lyons said. “She’s more than ready to jump into that role and I’ve been … looking forward to working with her.”
Lyons first joined ASULV in 2023 as a freshman. Right out of high school he knew he wanted to be involved in the school’s government.
He previously served as vice president.
“As vice president I was able to interact on a completely new level with the campus community and … navigate the landscape with upper administration,” Lyons said.
It was a shift and learning experience for Lyons from vice president to president with the different conversations and interactions the job involved.
“Representing the students (and the) concern of those around me is a skill to provide my insight as a student,” Lyons said.
One of Lyons’ priorities is to understand the elimination of January Interterm and to support students through the transition.
He also will seek some clarity regarding the University’s plans for dealing with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, should agents come to campus.
“A lot of students who we interacted with have mentioned that they’d like to see a more firm (ICE) policy, so that will be something that will still be a focus going into next year,” Lyons said.
Both Lyons and Castillo have the support of their fellow ASULV members.
“They’re both so passionate about student advocacy and that’s what I admire the most about them is like they don’t do it for the positions or to put it on their resume or to check off a box,” said Audrie Pagano, senior sociology major and current executive vice president. “It truly stems from a passion for student advocacy and wanting to improve things on campus and I think they’re both very much on the same page about that.”
“Evan and Savannah both have a really good dynamic,” said Samantha Aguilar, sophomore political science major and ASULV vice president of finance. “I’m interested in how they’re going to implement their new protocols and their new policies that they want to implement.”
Cassidy Diaz can be reached at cassidy.diazgomez@laverne.edu.
Cassidy Diaz is a senior journalism major with a concentration in print and online journalism. She is also news editor for the Campus Times, and previously served as an assistant editor and a staff writer.
Mia Byington is a senior photography major with a minor in marketing. She is a staff photographer for the Campus Times and La Verne Magazine.
