CMU Spring 2025 Student Government elections begin

By Clare Katyal and Holly Wang

**Courtesy of @electcmu via instagram.com**
**Students are encouraged to vote either online or in person during the voting period.**

Carnegie Mellon University’s Spring 2025 Student Government elections are scheduled for March 10 to 14, offering students the opportunity to elect representatives for key leadership positions. The election will determine the next Director of Finance, Director of Organizations, and Undergraduate Student Senate members for the 2025-2026 academic year.

The positions available include Director of Finance, who oversees the Joint Funding Committee and manages financial allocations for student organizations, and Director of Organizations, who leads the Committee on Student Organizations and the University Center Allocations Board, both of which oversee student organization recognition and space distribution.

Undergraduate Student Senate seats are also open, allowing students to represent their colleges, advocate for student needs, and vote on policies affecting campus life.

The number of Senate seats varies by college based on student population. During the Spring Election, all Senator seats are up for reelection. The College of Fine Arts has six total seats. The College of Engineering has 13 seats. The Dietrich College of Humanities & Social Sciences has 10 seats. The Mellon College of Science has six seats. The School of Computer Science has seven seats. The Tepper School of Business has five seats. BXA has one seat.

Candidates are required to submit a written petition with the required number of signatures. Candidates for Director of Finance and Director of Organizations must collect 100 signatures, including 20 from undergraduate students and 20 from graduate students. Senate candidates must collect 25 signatures from students in their respective college. However, anyone can still run and be elected to a position through write-in votes. Provided they meet the eligibility requirements for the respective position.

Candidates must meet specific eligibility criteria to run for positions. For the Director of Finance position, candidates must have prior experience on the Undergraduate Student Senate or Graduate Student Assembly finance committees, the Joint Funding Committee, as an assistant to the Director of Finance, or as an authorized signer for a student organization.

For Director of Organizations, candidates must have experience as a student leader, on the Committee on Student Organizations, or on the University Center Allocations Board.

Senate candidates must be undergraduate students running for a seat within their registered home college. Students transferring to another college before the academic year begins or those enrolled in dual-degree programs may request eligibility exceptions from the Elections Board.

All students who have paid the Student Activities Fee, which is charged to all undergraduate and graduate students who enroll for 19 units or more, are eligible to vote in the elections. It is noted that for Senate races, undergraduate students may only vote for candidates representing their own college.

Carnegie Mellon uses the Single Transferable Vote system, which allows voters to rank candidates in order of preference. For single-seat positions, candidates with the fewest votes are eliminated, and votes transfer to the next choice until one candidate secures a majority. For multi-seat positions, candidates must reach a designated quota to win, with surplus votes transferring to remaining candidates.

Voting will be available online through Elect@CMU or at designated polling locations. For this year, in person polling is located at Wean Commons on Monday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. or Wednesday from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.

To help students make informed decisions, The Tartan has collaborated with the Undergraduate Student Senate to offer insight into the candidates. Senate candidates have been asked to complete a brief questionnaire addressing their motivations for running, their intentions as a senator, and their personal understanding of the purpose behind Undergraduate Student Senate.

While many candidates responded, The Tartan was not able to receive responses from every candidate. This does not mean that The Tartan promotes or demotes any candidates. Additionally, some candidates have personal websites or platforms linked on Elect@CMU, and students are encouraged to review those materials to learn more before casting their vote.

Below is a list of all candidates running in the Spring 2025 elections. Candidates who have completed The Tartan’s questionnaire have a linked feature article.

Director of Finance

Eli Half

Irianna Perez

Director of Organizations

Amanawit Assefa

College of Fine Arts Undergraduate Senator

Emma Gelman

Joana Liu

Nancy Lopez

Calvin Chan

College of Engineering Undergraduate Senators

Sanjeev Naiek