Washington University’s Student Union (SU) held their annual inauguration ceremony to swear in newly-elected and re-elected senators, treasury representatives, and members of the Executive Council, April 11.

After the fall 2023 Student Union (SU) election, new members were elected to Senate, Treasury, and the Arts & Sciences Council, and two constitutional amendments were passed, Nov. 16. The election had the lowest voter turnout since spring of 2022, and among those elected is an ArtSci Council President with a history of opposing the existence of SU. 

Last week’s event speaks to a greater theme in Vivek’s campaign: campaigning on one thing while displaying the exact opposite.

In this week’s podcast, multimedia editor Jaden Satenstein speaks with two StudLife editors about voter engagement and attitudes toward the election on campus.

Tuesday should have resulted in a blowout election where the United States of America said in one voice, “We reject this fascist, the same as we did 80 years ago in Europe.” Instead, Trump finds himself a day later with a legitimate chance of reelection.

This year, WashU Votes has collaborated with the athletic department and the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) to run a series of initiatives to help student-athletes engage with the election.

Senior sports editor Josh Shapiro has developed a (satirical) guide for sports fans on election night.

In light of these issues, the Student Life Editorial Board advocates for greater transparency from and within SU, and professionalism from SU toward resolving this situation and thereby ensuring future elections proceed in line with SU’s espoused values.

Besides the lack of consideration and clarification in their handling of this technical difficulty, we have reasons to believe that the ballot had even more flaws than what is already known.

I’m sorry, but that’s just way too many people for how late in the game it is. We’re now about a year away from the election, and anyone who believes that the nomination is still a 12-person race is fooling themselves.