Student Council met Tuesday for its third general body meeting of the academic year. Student Council considered and postponed a bill that would create an ad hoc committee as a check on the University Board of Elections. Several representatives raised concerns over representation on the ad hoc committee and potential conflicts of interest from Student Council representatives serving on the committee. Also in Tuesday’s meeting, Student Council passed the 2026-27 academic year budget.
The bill to establish the ad hoc committee comes after last semester’s disputes surrounding the Student Council presidential election, during which Micah Andrews, former Student Council presidential candidate and fourth-year College student, raised concerns with UBE about potential violations of election procedures. Due to the Judicial Review Board’s ruling that UBE’s trial was “underdeveloped,” Student Council experienced transition delays preventing a general-body meeting from being held during the latter end of the spring semester.
The proposed ad hoc committee in Student Council would be titled the Commission for Legitimacy, Electoral Accountability and Reform. The Commission would investigate student electoral administration and governance, the clarity of constitutions and bylaws within student governance and leadership transitions, transparency and institutional oversight.
The Commission would have nine voting members. Four would be Student Council representative body members appointed by the representative body chair. Two members may be from other Special Status Organizations — student run groups with delegated agency to act on behalf of the University — with one member appointed by the Honor Committee and one by the University Judiciary Committee. The final three members would be selected by the Commission chair. One of the three seats would be filled by an appointed member of Student Council, while the other two would be filled by University students who are not current members of Student Council, the Honor Committee, UBE or the University Judiciary Committee.
An author’s amendment — an amendment added to the legislation before it is considered during a legislative session — made before Tuesday’s meeting added that if the seats offered to the Honor Committee and UJC are not filled within seven days after the bill’s enactment, the seats would be eliminated from the Commission.
The bill also reads that “no candidate in, or a formal party to a complaint arising from, the Spring 2026 Elections for Student Council President, Vice President for Administration or Vice President for Organizations shall be eligible to serve [on the Commission].”
The Commission chair would be chosen by the Student Council chair of the representative body.
Non-Commission members would not be permitted to participate in Commission proceedings without a majority vote. According to the text of the bill, Commission members would also be prohibited from sharing information about the Commission’s meetings, discussions, reports and recommendations with unauthorized individuals. Violations of the confidentiality requirement would constitute violations of the Student Council Code of Ethics.
The Commission would dissolve once the representative body accepts its final report or on Jan. 15, 2027, whichever comes first, as outlined in the bill.
Lucas Addison, one of the bill’s sponsors and third-year College representative, said the bill was inspired by recent controversies involving UBE.
“We've come off the heels of another election that's seen quite a bit of dispute, and barring all findings, we've seen that there are fundamental issues within UBE itself,” Addison said.
Addison also referenced when JRB ruled that UBE’s initial trial regarding last year’s Student Council presidential election investigation was “underdeveloped.” Addison also referenced UBE’s new rules draft, which proposes removing the JRB from its trial proceedings, as well as election errors that left candidates off the ballot during fall 2024 elections.
“It is time for [Student Council] to properly scrutinize [UBE],” Addison said. “It's not going to … try to suggest that any election results should have been different. It's going to … recommend proper reforms to ensure students can trust our elections again.”
Third-year Commerce Rep. Patrick Jo inquired about adding a representative from a Class Council to the Commission, also noting that he was personally impacted by the fall 2024 ballot errors.
Third-year Commerce Rep. Hayden Matay agreed with Jo, adding that there are several potential conflicts of interest represented on the proposed Commission. Matay said one concern he has is that there is a conflict of interest if the Commission includes a voting UBE member.
“I think writing off class councils as just a stakeholder is misguided. I think they're the largest stakeholder this semester,” Matay said. “I don't know if I support the current composition of the committee … I'm not sure we can forget that many members of this [representative] body have some sort of personal experience with the events of last year's elections.”
Ian Travis, one of the bill’s sponsors, fourth-year College representative and co-chair of community concerns, noted that the Commission would not relitigate the results of last year’s Student Council presidential election and, as such, representatives serving on the Commission would not stand to gain much from its work, even with implicit biases.
Imane Akhanous, one of the bill’s sponsors and Graduate Batten representative, added that it is preferable to have representatives on the Commission who are familiar with the events surrounding last year’s Student Council presidential election.
Matay continued to argue against having Student Council representatives on the Commission, citing potential conflicts of interest with the Commission’s duties.
“I still don't know if I'd support any member of this [representative] body doing … a historical analysis as part of the report,” Matay said. “I think [that] the historical analysis of last year's election, because there are members of this [representative body] that have inherent biases and experiences with last year's election, that [the analysis] should be private.”
Akhanous responded that a historical analysis, even if private, could be obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request.
Benvin Lozada, J.D./PhD candidate and Student Council rules and ethics chair, explained that it would be difficult for Student Council to hold UBE responsible to follow through with any procedural changes that the Commission recommends.
“Without amending our Constitution, there is no way for us to hold the University Board of Elections to any kind of binding commitment,“ Lozada said.
Consideration of the bill was postponed until the next general body meeting.
Representatives also passed a bill Tuesday to approve the 2026-27 academic year budget that was discussed at the last general body meeting.
Philippe Hempel, chair of the representative body and fourth-year Architecture representative, announced that committee chair appointments have been finalized. Travis and fourth-year Data Science Rep. Kayla Kim will serve as co-chairs of Community Concerns. Third-year College Rep. Manuela Kodwo will serve as chair of External Affairs and second-year College Rep. Ben Foster will serve as chair of Internal Affairs.
Saehee Pérez, vice president for administration and fourth-year College student, announced that Student Council received a record 729 applications during this recruitment cycle from Aug. 24 to Sept. 5. These applications were received by 275 applicants, as Pérez explained that most applicants applied to serve on two or three different committees. Pérez added that decisions should be made by next week.
Student Council will reconvene Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. for its regularly scheduled general body meeting.
Lucia Gambacini is a senior writer on the news desk covering Student Council and other issues pertaining to student life and government. She is a third-year from Richmond, Va. studying Political & Social Thought in the College.
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