It’s GUSA election season, so get prepared for the polls!
Students got to know the candidates for the 2025-2026 GUSA Senate at anan April 10 town hall. The town hall comes just days before GUSA’s spring election is set to begin on April 14. This meeting marked GUSA’s second town hall of the semester—their first town hall was on Feb. 21.
The Voice hosted the town hall, with our own assistant editor for Resources, Diversity, and Inclusion Imani Liburd (CAS ’27) moderating the panel and asking candidates to introduce their plans and platforms. Liburd also asked the candidates about their positions on hot topics such as legacy admissions, Georgetown’s investment in the Capitol Campus, and student wellbeing on campus under the Trump administration.
Elections start soon!! Here are your candidates.
GUSA senators represent students’ opinions and needs with respect to these issues and beyond. Students will have the opportunity to vote on candidates corresponding with their class year starting April 14 at 8:00 p.m. GUSA will release the election results after voting closes on April 16 at 8:00 p.m.
Candidates from the classes of 2028, 2027, and 2026 are competing for six seats for each grade level.
The class of 2028 senate race will be one to watch, with 14 students running for the class’ seats. 13 of those students introduced themselves at the town hall, with seven candidates running for re-election.
The seven incumbent candidates are Tyler Chase (SFS ’28), Nikki Jiang (SOH ’28), Cameran Lane (CAS ’28), Paul Nassar (SFS ’28), Amelia Snyder (SOH ’28), Zadie Weaver (CAS ’28), and Mikey Williams (SFS ’28).
The new candidates are Roan Bedoian (CAS ’28), Zain Khan (SFS ’28), Ignacio Loaiza Sandoval (CAS ’28), Abrahim Sawez (SOH ’28), Luke Schneeman (CAS ’28), Diego Vázquez-Perez (CAS ’28), and Erik Hsu (CAS ’28), who missed the town hall to attend class.
Five of the six candidates from the class of 2027 attended the town hall, and the race is uncontested. Han Li (CAS ’27) and Sienna Lipton (CAS ’27) are running for re-election, Lecholas Njomin (SFS ‘27) is running for his second term after serving as a freshman, while Asha Gudipaty (CAS ’27), Sadie Nichols (CAS ’27), and Sara Eyob (CAS ’27) are running for the first time. Eyob announced her write-in ballot campaign earlier this week on Instagram, and Evan Cornell (CAS ’27) announced after the town hall that he had taken himself off the ballot and endorsed Eyob as a write-in candidate. Eyob did not attend the town hall.
Seven candidates from the class of 2026 will compete for six senate positions. Crystal Liao (CAS ’26), Meriam Ahmad (SFS ’26), Rhea Iyer (CAS ’26), and Tina Solki (SFS ’26) are running for re-election, while Christian Spadini (CAS ’26), James Beit (MSB ’26), and Michael Liu (MSB ’26) will serve their first term if elected.
Rising junior candidates CALL out the Capitol Campus
Liburd asked each of the Class of 2027’s candidates to explain their position on Georgetown’s investment in the Capitol Campus. In a February Faculty Senate meeting, school leadership shared that the Capitol Campus could lose $91.4 million between fiscal years 2025 to 2028 and would only start earning profits in fiscal year 2029.
While candidates had different opinions about the potential of Capitol Campus as a long-term program, they all voiced their suggestions to reform the campus. Some candidates argued that Georgetown has over-invested in the campus, while others argued that Georgetown has misplaced the spending.
Sienna Lipton (CAS ’27), a current Senator who is running for election, encouraged Georgetown to improve the student life and transportation resources at the Capitol Campus to draw in more students. Lipton also suggested that GUSA could take an active role in improving the Capitol Campus by creating an independent student government for the campus.
“GUSA needs some kind of student government body that serves particularly the Capitol Campus, because there are going to be specific needs that aren’t what we’re seeing on the Hilltop,” she said.
Legacy admissions
Liburd asked each candidate about their position on legacy admissions. Here are the senators who identified in support of and against legacy admissions.
Support legacy admissions: Christian Spadini, Tyler Chase, Zain Khan, Luke Schneeman, Diego Vázquez-Perez, and Mikey Williams
Do not support legacy admissions: Meriam Ahmad, James Beit, Rhea Iyer, Crystal Liao, Michael Liu, Tina Solki, Evan Cornell, Asha Gudipaty, Han Li, Sienna Lipton, Sadie Nichols, Lecholas Njomin, Roan Bedoian, Nikki Jiang, Cameran Lane, Ignacio Loaiza Sandoval, Paul Nassar, Abrahim Sawez, Amelia Snyder, and Zadie Weaver
Did not attend: Sara Eyob, Erik Hsu
Rising senior candidates urge GUSA to “have a spine”
Liburd asked the Class of 2026 candidates what actions GUSA and Georgetown’s administration should take in response to students who have expressed fear and anxiety about the Trump administration’s recent policies and executive orders. Last weekend, GUSA organized the “Hands Off Our Schools” Rally protesting the dismantling of the Department of Education and orders to remove diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs from schools.
At the town hall, all Class of 2026 candidates agreed that Georgetown’s administration has a responsibility to inform students on the federal government’s new policies and how they may affect campus life. The most common campaign goals among all senate candidates were to increase university transparency and improve GUSA’s communication with students.
James Beit (MSB ’26), along with many other rising senior candidates at the town hall, said that GUSA and Georgetown must respond to federal policies more actively.
“I think GUSA and Georgetown have to have a spine when it comes to stuff like this and start speaking up and fighting back,” Beit said. “I think we have to start talking to people in D.C. I think we should definitely start taking a more active role as the voice of students on campus instead of just reverting to damage control and hoping to dodge the blows of the Trump administration.”
Additionally, candidates expressed their support for the Georgetown Law dean’s refusal to remove DEI considerations from curriculum and Georgetown’s graduate tuition discounts to support graduate students impacted by federal job cuts.
Speaking up for transfer students
Several candidates said that their experiences coming to Georgetown as transfer students inspired them to run for GUSA Senate.
“Georgetown has been kind of my North Star as a transfer. Being here now I’ve fallen in love with a community that’s been super welcoming. I want to give back to Georgetown,” Asha Gudipaty (CAS ’27) said.
Other candidates also shared their transfer experiences. Crystal Liao (CAS ’26) and Sadie Nichols (CAS ’27) each described facing challenges when transitioning to Georgetown. They said that having more support from Georgetown’s administration could have alleviated these challenges. They suggested expanding transfer students’ access to student life opportunities and other resources to ease the transition.
“Georgetown hasn’t always provided the most resources when it comes to how to help transfer students transition into Georgetown,” Nichols said.
Our civically-engaged readers who would like to learn more about each GUSA senate candidate can visit the GUSA Election Commission’s Instagram, @gusaelections which includes profiles of each candidate.
