Student Union’s (SU) rerun of this semester’s senate election opened on the evening of Dec. 3 at 9 p.m. and will close on Dec. 5 at 9 p.m. The redo of the election comes after SU’s Constitutional Council found that the ballot required votes for 12 candidates for each Senate and Treasury instead of being able to cast votes for up to 12 candidates for each.

This semester’s Student Union election saw the lowest student body turnout since the spring of 2015, with 9.81% of the student body voting for 12 new senators, 12 new Treasury representatives, and members of the Arts & Sciences Council. 

Student Union (SU) financial leadership plans to be stricter with giving additional funding in the current 2026 fiscal year’s (FY) quarter 2. The move comes after a 54% increase in appeals funding allocated to student organizations in FY2026 Q1 compared to FY2025 Q1.

A newly drafted protest protocol by an administration-commissioned task force would prohibit masks for nonmedical reasons and provide resources for students barred from campus. The protocol faced blowback for concerns over racial profiling, lack of clarity of language, and concerns about housing insecurity for suspended students from Student Union (SU) senators during their meeting last week, Oct. 14.

All five of the proposed amendments to the Student Union (SU) constitution failed in a special election held from April 15 to April 16.

Student Union (SU) will have their inauguration for newly-elected SU leadership and members this Thursday in Tisch Commons at 6 p.m.

This semester’s Student Union (SU) election, featuring seats open in Senate, Treasury, and the Executive Branch, began this Tuesday at 9:00 pm CST and will end this Thursday at 9:00 pm CST. 

In 2023, then junior and SU Election Commissioner Constantin Carrigan reported a 6% increase in voter turnout for the spring election after reintroducing slates. With the continued allowance of slates, however, the editorial board of Student Life is concerned about the possibility of a growing partisanship in the Student Union.

Despite attempts to include student representation, the board notably lacks direct student-elected and affinity group representation. 

Student Union (SU) unanimously passed its $4.6 million general budget for the upcoming fiscal year on Feb. 18. This year’s Treasury budget was passed in 49 minutes, making it the second-fastest budget passed in SU history. The budget will create a new fund to pay for cleaning costs for student organizations, increase the budget for Night at the Pageant to $100,000, and decrease funding for student council.