This past week, the Brandeis Student Union held their winter elections to fill 10 open positions on the Senate, Allocation Board, Judiciary and Undergraduate Curriculum Committee. Seventeen candidates ran and nine positions were filled.

In the Senate, spots were open for Mid-Year Senator as well as Ziv Quad Senator. Shangyuan (Gloria) Xu ’21 ran uncontested in the spot of Mid-Year Senator. Gloria received 20 out of 21 votes and won the seat. She is planning on majoring in economics and psychology. The Ziv Quad seat remains open.

The Allocations (A)-Board had four openings: one three-semester seat, two two-semester seats and one two-semester racial-minority seat. Three candidates George Li ’21, Rebecca Shaar ’21 and Kaixuan (Kayson) Ding ’21, ran for the position. Shaar won the seat, collecting almost 35% of all votes.

As a first year, Shaar is planning on majoring in business and economics, and is a member of the TAMID group and the Brandeis Boxing Club. Shaar “firmly believe[s] that all the decisions made by the [Allocations] board should be unbiased and standardized as possible, in order to ensure equitable distribution of funds,” she said in an email to The Brandeis Hoot. “I hope to not only follow the existing guidelines used by A-board, but also work to create new procedures to handle contentious funding requests more objectively.”

Alan Huang ’21 and Andrews Figueroa ’19 each claimed a two-semester seat. Figueroa won the majority vote, with Huang a close second. Figueroa is majoring in computer science and linguistics, while Huang hopes to major in biology and business.

On A-board, Huang intends to create positive change on campus. “To do this, I along with the rest of A-board, will be reviewing policies and regulations regarding the allocation of funds,” said Huang. The board’s goal is to fund clubs fairly “in order to help facilitate the best experience for the entire student body,” he said.

The final open position within A-board was a two-semester racial-minority seat. Of the three candidates, Shiyi (Wendy) Mao beat Daniel Kang ’19 by one vote.

Four candidates ran for three vacant seats as Associate Justices on the Student Union Judiciary. Rolonda Donelson ’20, Wenjing (Winnie) Qin ’21 and Yale Sussman ’21 each won a seat.

Donelson aims to “use the Student Union Constitution in order to review cases with an unbiased perspective and deliver a just decision for all parties involved,” Donelson said. “I also aim to be a judicial liaison for other branches and committee within the Union.”

As an Associate Justice, Qin told The Hoot that she is excited for the opportunity. “My main focus in office is to maximize the influence of the Judiciary on campus, especially among new students and international students community,” she said. Qin plans on studying International and Global Studies, economics, and legal studies.

Sussman is hoping to study politics, Near Eastern and Judaic Studies and Legal Studies. Sussman “aims to hold the Brandeis community, Student Union, and clubs accountable and settle all disputes in a timely manner,” she said in an interview. “The Judiciary Board is necessary for fairness and I am pleased and humbled to play a role in it.”

The final opening on the Student Union was a seat on the Undergraduate Curriculum Committee, UCC, which had one vacancy for a member of the junior class. Of the two candidates running, neither Zhenping (Umans) You ’19 nor Shijie (Jeremy) Xiao ’19, received a majority of the votes; instead, the majority abstained from voting. Xiao was elected, however, with the collection of almost 30 percent of the votes. Xiao is majoring in economics and mathematics with a business minor.

Jacob Edelman ’18, President of the Student Union, sees a bright future in this group of electees. “Speaking on behalf of the Student Union and myself, we are thrilled to have such an enthusiastic group of new elected officials come on board this semester. The new members are full of creative ideas and energy that the Student Union needs to continue serving all students,” said Edelman. Looking toward the rest of the semester, Edelman said that “The Union will be focused on hitting a homerun in regards to direct outreach this semester. If you see us around campus, come say hi and tell us about how we can advocate for you.”