Tim Mellman | Student Life

Student Union (SU) announced the results of this semester’s SU election, Nov. 14. In the election, 29.4% of WashU’s student body voted in 12 new senators and 12 new treasury representatives, as well as new members of the Arts & Science Council. Students also voted on five constitutional changes, all of which passed except for Amendment 5, which would remove restrictions on compensating SU representatives for their work in student government.  

Tanvi Gorre | Student Life

Election Commissioner, senior Gavin Wagner, wrote in a statement to Student Life that he was happy with the turnout, even though it was slightly down from the 30.1% turnout last spring. He noted that SU limited the publicity of the election this semester due to the presidential election.

“Our outreach was a bit muted recently so as to not interfere with WashU Votes and all their work with the federal elections, so to still have a turnout that surpassed last fall’s elections was great to see,” Wagner said.

Tim Mellman | Student Life

Of the 47 candidates, 11 were docked votes or barred from campaigning in person for violating the rules of this semester’s election. Two of these candidates had 500 votes deducted for failing to submit their campaign expenditure reports. This year, candidates needed above 497 or 470 votes to be elected to Senate or Treasury, respectively.

This election, voters also saw an increase in slates — when candidates campaign together, though students must vote on them individually. Slates are a new feature for SU elections, as they were only made acceptable in April 2023. This year’s ballot had a three-person Treasury slate and a 13-person Senate and Treasury slate, the latter of which is named “Students for a Better SU.” These slates have been contentious, with some arguing that slates can intensify division in SU bodies, despite last year’s Election Commission viewing slates as a way to bolster voter turnout. Wagner said slates may not be here to stay.

“Our goal is always to maintain an election environment that is fair and engaging for candidates and voters alike, and we want to ensure that the slate system, as it exists, is not interfering with that goal,” Wagner wrote.

Juniors Mika Kipnis and Beni Bisimwa led the 19-person senate race with 796 and 791 of the votes, respectively.

Sophomores Sydney Kim and Katie Cho led Treasury’s 12-person race with 749 and 656 votes, respectively.

Elected Treasury Representatives:

Katelyn Moss, Ally Lee, Rayna Kent, Ava Glaser, Sydney Kim*, Katie Cho*, Grace Marcus*, Varun Vadhera*, Emma Hait*, Seth Skiles*, Amanda Plaxe*, Jonathan Lewin*

Elected Senators:

Jace Slone, Enrique Villamil, Mason Klein, Wyatt Fox, Ethan Bloom, Don Ung, Matthew Isaacs, Mika Kipnis*, Beni Bisimwa*, Chantal Ogbeifun*, Saara Engineer*, Sonal Churiwal*

An asterisk (*) next to a candidate’s name denotes that they are incumbent.

Arts & Science Council:

President: Omar Abdelmoity (uncontested)

Vice President of Academic Outreach: Sonali Sharma (uncontested)

Vice President of Finance: no candidates ran for this position

Vice President of Administration: Izyan Ali

Vice President of Public Relations: Kaylee Baek (uncontested)

Vice President of Programming: Jaquelin Cardenas-López (uncontested)