Welcome to election season! Voting will begin April 8 at 9 a.m. and be open through April 11 at 12 p.m.
The unofficial election results come out on April 11 by 7 p.m. and the official results will be announced on April 18 during Spring Fling.
This year there are two parties – ROSE and MOTION. The last two elections were single party elections after a competing party dropped out of the race last year.
There are 15 representative senator seats and no party is running enough candidates to fill all seats which means that the elected table is guaranteed to be mixed.
MOTION – Motivated. Organized. Transparent. Inclusive. Open. Nurturing.
“Unlike others who are running in this election, being involved in USG is more than just the title, my team and I want to be involved in USG so we can have the larger platform to be the voice for the students, make change, and continue hosting events students want!” Victor Martinez, MOTION’s candidate for secretary, said in a statement shared with The Ticker.
“Team MOTION wants to ensure that student rights are protected and advocate for fair and transparent policies,” Martinez said. “And we have serious advocates on our team! We also want to continue to organize events and activities that promote student engagement, inclusion, and representation! We have an incredibly diverse student population on campus, and we want to promote that.”
Kayla Hualpa, who is running for Executive Vice President, said she was grateful for MOTION’s supportive team.
Martinez said communication was a priority for team MOTION and that they want to strengthen the relationship between club leaders and USG.
“Our team wants to seriously improve the communication between USG and the student body,” Martinez said. “We want students to be more aware of events happening on campus, we want students to be aware of who in USG they can go to when a problem arises, we want students to be aware of our contact information so they know who to contact, we want club leaders to know who to go to with any issues, we want students to know what USG stands for and look at us as student peers they can trust.”
MOTION has campaigned on Instagram @motionatbaruch and tabled in the second floor of the William and Anita Newman Vertical campus.
Shazia Hussain – President
Kayla Hualpa – Executive Vice President
Victor Martinez – Secretary
Geovani ‘Geo’ Pelaez – Vice President of Campus Affairs
Zena Mohamed – Vice President of Student Affairs
Zena Ally – Representative Senator
Chloe Cruz- Representative Senator
Emely ‘Luna’ Moreno – Representative Senator
Nigina ‘Gina’ Raufova – Representative Senator
ROSE – Representatives Organizing Student Empowerment
Dave Olajide, ROSE’s candidate for president said the heart of ROSE is about community.
“We want to engage the student body and give opportunities to students to get involved –what ways can we branch out and use our abilities as representatives to give other students the opportunities to reach higher place,” Olajide said in an interview with The Ticker. “ROSE is more than just the people within it. ROSE is the community that follows with it – all the members of our team are part of different organizations across Baruch.”
He said the idea of “rose” was symbolic of his story and his perception of the Baruch community.
“There’s a lot of personal history behind it, but I like to think of myself as someone who bloomed and who, similar to a rose, I grew out of the rosebud and I grew up with like the seed. As a person, you have different petals or like different sides of yourself or different parts of yourself that you can show to people and when you bloom as a rose, when your petals spread you’re showing what sides of yourself you have. The idea of rose as a whole is Baruch students are like petals of a larger Rose. It’s like something that’s still joined together but spreads out.”
While he said election rules prohibit him from discussing “campaign promises” he was passionate about addressing issues like the lack of paper towels and prayer space crisis.
He said individuals have raised these issues for years, but he wants to increase transparency so that the student body is more aware of the efforts made and the obstacles faced.
“In terms of issues that are more important to me, a lot of it is about space on campus, and all the facilities in which we give to our students,” he said.
Makkedah Ramsey, ROSE’s candidate for executive vice president, also said that the party wants to foster fun.
“When you see us at a table there are a whole bunch of people over and we’re laughing and we’re joking, because that’s what’s important to us right now: connection,” Ramsey said. “As EVP that’s what’s important to me. People always ask me, what’s your goal and my goal is actually just to make USG the place for everyone, to let everyone know that this is not a scary place. We’re not cliquey.”
“ROSE is about growing out of yourself and going for your dreams,” Oljade said. “If you have any goals, any visions. If you have something that you want, go for it.”
ROSE has campaigned on Instagram @rose4baruch and tabled in the second floor of the William and Anita Newman Vertical campus. They also announced they will be collaborating with small clothing brands, Pretty Girls Go to College and Archive 49 in addition to Drink More Matcha.
Dave Olajide — President
Makkedah Ramsey — Executive Vice President
Skyla Chan — Treasurer
Jason Martinez — Secretary
Muskaan Kapoor— Vice President of Academic Affairs
Samantha ‘Sam’ Quervalu —Vice President of Campus Affairs
Yasmine ‘Mina’ Agdali — Vice President of Legislative Affairs
Laisha De Leon — Vice President of Student Affairs
Emile Barhumi — Representative Senator
Muskaan Bisal —Representative Senator
Arthur Bugayev— Representative Senator
Abibatou Diarra — Representative Senator
Justina Dodani — Representative Senator
Marc Fleurantin — Representative Senator
Abigail ‘Abi’ Garcia — Representative Senator
Milton Gordon — Representative Senator
Nusaiba ‘Siba’ Haque — Representative Senator
Yihua ‘Eddie’ Huang — Representative Senator
Marbella Montavo — Representative Senator
Paz Moran — Representative Senator
Christian Perez — Representative Senator
Myat Thwe — Representative Senator
Kayla Aaron — University Student Senate Representative
Avrohom Malachowski — University Student Senate Representative
Marina Nasef — University Student Senate Alternate Representative
Jackenson Edme — Athletic Board
Delaney Killeen — Athletic Board
The full list of candidates is available on the Office of Student Life’s website.
INDEPENDENTS
Zenab Ijaz — Student Building Fund Committee
“As a candidate for the Student Building Fund Committee, I pledge to prioritize the needs and interests of all students on campus,” Ijaz said.
He said he wanted to prioritize responsible financial management.
“I believe that the development and improvement of our student facilities are crucial for creating a conducive environment for learning, socializing, and personal growth,” he said.
Students can access the Office of Student Life election website at https://studentaffairs.baruch.cuny.edu/studentlife/student-activities/student-government-elections
