Aaron Finkel ’20 will serve as the new Vice President of the Student Union with President Hannah Brown ’19 while Adrian Ashley ’20 will serve as the new Treasurer next semester. Finkel beat out six other competitors for the position—Guillermo Caballero ’20, Alex Chang ’22, Vidit Dhawan ’19, Richard Kisack, Jr. ’19, Steven Luo ’21 and Nakul Srinivas ’21. Ashley ran unopposed for the Treasurer seat.
Linfei Yang ’20 was originally a candidate for the vice presidential election but decided to suspend his campaign, as announced on Facebook. “The unwelcome atmosphere that has been created this election season has made it not worth it to participate in,” Yang said in the post. “Regardless, I am proud at what my campaign achieved. But as the only candidate among a field of eight to be outright attacked to such a degree, I am surprised and ashamed that we have let this election fall to such new lows.”
Students were given 24 hours to vote for the candidates, with the polls opening at 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 9 and closing 24 hours later on Monday, Dec. 10. They were able to vote for one of the candidates, abstain from voting or “vote no confidence,” meaning the voter felt none of the candidates would be able to hold the position.
In the race for vice president, Finkel received 449 of the overall 1,116 votes, 40.23 percent of the total number of voters. Caballero was close behind Finkel, trailing by just 34 votes at 415 votes, receiving 37.19 percent of votes. Kisack was third in the race, obtaining 71 votes at 6.36 percent. Srinivas followed with 54 voters, which was 4.84 percent. Chang trailed Srinivas by 16 votes, receiving 38 votes, which counted for 3.41 percent of the total votes. Dhawan was close behind with 31 votes, or 2.78 percent. Finally, Luo received 15 votes, counting for 1.34 percent of the voters.
Forty-three students voted to either write in candidates, abstain or vote no confidence, accounting for 3.85 percent of the total voters.
“Nothing has honored me more than the willingness of my fellow students to put their faith in my plan for turning around the Student Union,” Finkel told The Brandeis Hoot in an email. “After three years, I feel I am well-prepared to lead the Senate and represent the interests of this diverse student body.”
Finkel’s first task as vice president will be bringing the Senate closer together “by establishing a set of common goals and values. We will work together more closely with Executive Board members, and focus on building partnerships with administration,” he said.
Out of the 1,118 voters for treasurer, Ashley received 74.51 percent of the total votes, at 833 votes.
“I am extremely excited to represent the student body as a member of the treasury branch next semester, and I look forward to working with club leaders in the near future to create the change that they want to see at this university,” Ashley told The Hoot in an email.
Ashley’s first task as treasurer will be to meet with Stephen Costa, the budget analyst, and look at ways in which the treasury process can be “straightforward and transparent” for all club treasurers.
Finkel and Ashley will be sworn into office at the annual State of the Union, where President Hannah Brown ’19, current Vice President Benedikt Reynolds ’19 and committee chairs reflect on the progress of the Union over the semester as well as the progress of the different committees. The event will take place in the SCC Atrium at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 11.
