As a result of Feb. 13 special elections, Shivam Nainwal ’22 and Tyler Carruth ’23 were elected as community senators and Chloe Yu ’22 was elected as an international senator. All candidates ran unopposed.
In an interview with The Brandeis Hoot, Carruth said that he’s currently “working with the Dining Committee to communicate with students and student organizations about certain issues with the RFP and certain vendors coming up over the next few months,” and says that he plans to continue that. He added that he plans to attend “as many meetings as possible, depending on how [his] schedule works out.” He said that he’s attended meetings of the Rules Committee, the Club Support Committee and another committee which he could not remember. He said that “right now the Union is working its way through a lot of mediums,” and that it is important to him to help increase communication with the student population.
When asked about past leadership experience, Carruth said that he spent three years as the lead petty officer of a sea cadet group and had student government experience in high school. In light of his victory he said he was “excited to be working in an official capacity,” and that he sees “a lot of potential for growth in the Student Union.”
In an interview with The Hoot, Yu listed three main goals for her time in office. She said that she wants to increase the availability of on-campus jobs for international students and to establish better accommodations for international students traveling long distances, such as extended move-in dates and shuttle times. She also intends to break down barriers between international students and domestic students by supporting more cultural associations and events. When asked how she intends to increase the availability of on-campus jobs, Yu said that she “[has] a very very specific goal, but in terms of how she’s going to achieve it, she will definitely need to go into more details about it.” She said that she plans to “keep everybody updated about that.”
When asked about relevant experience, she talked about having six years of experience living in the United States, two at Brandeis and four in high school, saying that she understands the struggles that international students face, and the perspectives of domestic students, and that she believes this can help her “bring the two communities closer together.” In light of her victory, Yu said that she will try her best to achieve the three goals she outlined and that her actions will speak louder than her words.
Nainwal was not present at the “Meet the Candidates” event and was not available for an interview.
