The Student Union is currently hosting its fall elections; there are 24 open positions for the Senate, three Judiciary seats available and two Allocations Board seats open. Voting will be held on Sept. 14. 

 

For this round of elections, students could run for the Class of 2026 Senator position, Class of 2025 Senator Position and Class of 2024 Senator Position. Each of the class year senator positions are open for two seats. The election is also looking to fill Quad Senator positions; these are only one seat per quad. On the ballot students are running for Skyline/Rosenthal Quad Senator, the Charles River Quad Senator, Massell Quad Senator, North Quad Senator, Village/567 Quad Senator and Ziv/Ridgewood Quad Senator.

 

The other senator position types available are Senators at Large, Racial Minority Senators, Myra Kraft Transitional Year Program (MKTYP) Senator and International Student Senator. 

 

To run for senator positions students must be a part of the community they are representing, according to a post on the Student Union’s Instagram. For example, the MKTYP Senator must be a student in the MKTYP Program; similarly, to be North Quad Senator you must live in the quad. 

 

For the Judiciary Board, there are three associate Justice positions open. In the position, candidates are expected to attend judiciary meetings, oversee student union operations, aid the judiciary chief, attend senate meetings, adhere to the code of conduct and mediate disagreements within the student government, according to the information posted on the student union’s Instagram. 

 

Typically for elections, the student union will send out an email naming the candidates for each position, separate from their newsletter, according to an email sent to community members for the spring 2022 elections. Community members also typically receive a separate email listing the open positions and the number of seats available for that election period. This semester, the union used its Instagram platform to highlight open positions and how to run for them. 

 

For the Class of 2026 Senator position, Stephen Gaughan ’26, Bryan Jiang ’26, Fiona Wang ’26, Tyler Hupart ’26 and Koby Gottlieb ’26 are running. 

 

Gaughan has experience working in student government, having served four terms as president of his high school’s Political Activist Club, three as president of its Human Rights Club, one as president of its Model United Nations and one as lead of its Latin Honor Society, according to his bio. “I enacted bold visions, from guest speaker series to mock historical and political trials, while overseeing and promoting historic membership growth,” according to his bio. 

 

Jiang has already grown to have care and passion for the Brandeis community and this has led to him to run for the class senate position. “Throughout my time at CORO [leadership program], I gained insight from not only the communities themselves, but also the diverse group of students that I worked with, on what it takes to be a compassionate and driven leader,” he said in his bio. 

 

Wang has plans for the Class of 2026, including planning activities to help build up the Brandeis community as well as with other universities in the area. “Your complaints are my top priority; my goal is to grow with Brandeis, but that would not happen without your help… ,” according to her bio. 

 

Hupart has a strong belief in a connection with the students at Brandeis. He has a student-first mentality and hopes to carry that mindset into the student union. “At the end of the day, you are Brandeis’s prime asset, irrespective of race, gender, course of study, personal beliefs, or any other possible dividers one could imagine, and the Student Union would be foolish to not employ said resource,” said Hupart in his bio. 

 

Gottlieb wants to help students and the school to communicate with each other better with improvements to the BranVan system and by developing a new student communication system. “I want to make campus and Waltham feel safer for you by putting a networking system in place for Brandeis students to connect if you’re feeling uncomfortable while travelling around Waltham,” according to his bio. 

 

For the Class of 2025 Senator position, Andrew Zeiler ’25, Erica Hwang ’25 and James Brosgol ’25 are running. 

 

Zeiler spent time doing political work in Massachusetts and wants to make Brandeis the most enjoyable experience possible. “My three main goals I want to achieve in my term is to improve access to hygiene products, improve food quality, and work on Brandeis’ commitment to the climate,” according to his bio. 

 

Hwang, if elected, wants to expand options for students with dietary restrictions in the dining halls, work to hire more BranVan drivers and advocate for higher wages, increase access to menstrual products on campus and increase accessibility on campus in general. She is majoring in Business and Psychology, and enjoys playing club volleyball and her oboe in Slosberg Music Center. She plans to channel her energetic and outgoing personality into improving students’ Brandeis experience and making sure students are heard.

 

Brosgol was the senator of North Quad last year. He engaged in dialogues with Sodexo about improving students’ dining experience, as well as researching UV lamp purchases to help students combat Seasonal Affective Disorder. He is currently the treasurer of the Masorti Jewish Congregation, and will try to apply the experience from his treasury work to his senate work, according to his bio.

 

For the Class of 2024 Senator position, Sahil Muthuswami ’24 is running unopposed. 

 

Muthuswami was the East Quad senator last year and enjoyed collaborating with students and faculty to help bring projects into reality. “I love representing my school and bridging the gap between students, administration, and policy. You can expect clear communication, determination, and consistency if I am elected into office,” said Muthuswami in his bio. 

 

For the Racial Minority Senator position, Rachel Gao ’25 and Divam Gupta ’26 are running. 

 

A first-generation college student, Gao is majoring in Politics and double minoring in Legal Studies and Hispanic Studies. She grew up “surrounded by diverse groups of people,” which has really influenced how she “think[s] and operate[s] as a leader, especially as a person of color.” 

 

Gupta is majoring in Politics and Business on a pre-law track. He is from North Attleborough, Massachusetts and is “eager to work towards gaining your trust to be the connection between minority students and the Brandeis administration.” Gupta hopes to “serve Brandeis by ensuring that students are heard and by striving for complete equality on campus.”

 

For the MKTYP Senator Position, Jahkhi Waters ’26 is running unopposed.

 

Waters, a Boston native, is a Music major with a passion for cooking, volleyball and basketball. He feels lucky to have his “voice heard in a world that would sooner ignore it,” and “would like to give back to Brandeis University and my fellow students by taking this opportunity to be a representative as a MKTYP Senator.” 

 

For the Massell Quad Senator positions, Chloe Doonan ’26, Zachary Moskovits ’26, Joseph Heaney ’26 and Summer Coronesi ’26 are running. 

 

Doonan wants to strengthen the community in the quad, according to her bio. “I want to work to improve the state and cleanliness of our bathrooms, keep Massell free of trash, and without a doubt make sure that every foosball table has enough balls,” Doonan wrote. 

 

Moskovits wrote in his bio that fighting for the interests of his peers is not new for him and he believes he can continue this in the position. 

 

Heaney sees a “bright” future for Massell Quad, according to his candidate bio. “This is our house for the year, so let’s make it feel like HOME,” Heaney wrote. 

 

Coronesi wrote in her bio that while she is new to the student government scene she is excited to advocate and hear ideas in this position. She wants to make Massell the environment that students want it to be. 

 

For the North Quad Senator position, Liam Spilker ’26, Eve Begelman ’26 and Prateek Kanmadikar ’26 are running. 

 

Spilker is never going to give you up, and never going to let you down, according to his candidate bio. “And I will certainly never desert you. It is for that reason I am running for north quad senate,” he wrote. 

 

Begelman is running for the position in order to make the quad a “friendly and comfortable environment for all,” according to her bio; she also aspires for the betterment of the school in general. 

 

Kanmadikar has experience in student leadership, having held multiple leadership positions at his high school. In this position, he hopes to “utilize insights from his prior student leadership experience to tackle the challenges faced by the Brandeis University school community,” according to his bio. 

 

For the Skyline/Rosie Senator position, Chana Thomas ’25 is running unopposed. 

 

Thomas has experience serving on student councils in the past, according to her candidate bio. “I would like to be a person that students can comfortably go to, knowing that their voices will be heard and cared for as my own,” Thomas wrote. 

 

For the Ziv/Ridgewood Senator position, Eamonn Golden ’24 is running unopposed. 

 

Golden has previous student union experience, having served on the Judiciary Board last academic year, according to his candidate bio. “My goals for this position are threefold: working with the E-board as they endeavor to make certain everyone has access to free menstrual products, ensuring that suite-style dorms without common bathrooms – such as Ridge and Ziv – have a place where people can find those products,” Golden explained in his bio. 

 

For the Charles River Senator position, Nicholas Kanan ’23 is running unopposed. 

 

Kanan is a transfer student and at his previous institution, he was the Student Union president. Previously he served as the Senator for Village and 567 Quad during the 2021-2022 academic year. Kanan hopes to increase BranVan access for students living in the Charles River Apartments, according to his candidate bio. 

 

For the Village/567 Senator position, Kai Kibilko ’25 is running unopposed. 

 

Kibilko has worked with people from different walks of life, which she lists as a strength that she can use in this position. “Transparency and Influence are two traits that are very important for the students to have in their relationship with the administration, and so I hope to democratize the process by which decisions regarding the students are made,” Kibilko wrote in her bio. 

 

For the off-campus senator position, Kelly Kei ’24 is running unopposed. 

 

Kei has held five internships in consulting and in other industries, according to her candidate bio. This experience has made Kei “well rounded” according to her, which she can use in the position. Kei’s goals in this position are to make off-campus parking better for students and have better directions for shuttle services offered by the university, according to her bio. 

 

For the Associate Justice positions, Farishta Ali ’24, Maxwell Weiner ’26, Jenna Lewis ’26, Alyssa Golden ’26 and Zachary Miller ’25 are running. 

 

Ali has experience with student government having held positions such as a senator, academic senate chairperson and vice president, according to her candidate bio. “I will strive to uphold the standards of the student union constitution and to build a friendly environment amongst the Brandeis community,” Ali wrote. 

 

Weiner believes that “justice comes from the people; decisions that affect our community ought to represent our collective views,” according to his candidate bio. In the position, Weiner believes he can leave the university in a better place than he found it.

 

Lewis wrote that if elected she would “bring a balance of the necessary authority and structure of the position with my unique sense of compassion and open-mindedness to fresh interpretation,” according to her bio. She has previously served on her high school’s disciplinary committee for two years. 

 

Golden has experience in student government. According to her candidate bio, in high school she was elected and served “as a voice representing 3,000 students for my school’s School Site Council alongside administration, faculty, teachers, and peers.” If elected to the position, one of Golden’s main priorities is to increase transparency and accountability. 

 

Miller wrote in his bio that he believes he is a good fit for the position because he “can effectively serve the Brandeis community in this role given my connection to the legal world.” Miller has experience with public speaking and presentational skills, which can serve him well in the position, according to the bio. 

 

For the Allocations board, Cameron Sherman ’24 is running unopposed. 

 

Sherman wrote in his candidate bio that he has held positions in representing student groups. These experiences have taught Sherman how to be a leader, he wrote. It has also taught him how to listen and he wants to bring these skills to the Brandeis community.