The Undergraduate Council of Students held internal elections for the positions of Undergraduate Finance Board first-year representative, UFB-UCS liaison, UFB at-large representative and UCS transfer and resumed undergraduate education affairs representative at its first general body meeting of the academic year Wednesday evening.
Each candidate was given the opportunity to give a two-minute speech during the virtual meeting, followed by a brief amount of time to answer questions. Candidates were allowed to submit video speeches if they were unable to make it to the meeting.
Five first-years ran for the position of UFB first-year representative: Smaiyl Makyshov ’25, Arjun Chopra ’25, Elijah Dahunsi ’25, Benjamin Moshes ’25 and Christopher Wai ’25. Many of the contenders cited experience working in student government in high school as a qualification for the position, which entails meeting with and allocating funds to student groups.
Many candidates also said that they saw the position as an opportunity to make a difference on campus by helping student groups.
Being a UFB first-year representative is “an opportunity to start making positive and mature contributions to our community here at Brown,” Wai said.
Moshes also shared his interest in shaping UFB policy around use of the group’s surplus. “I think that spending that money to improve the lives of Brown students would be our best option,” Moshes said.
The Board currently holds a surplus of approximately $1.2 million, funds that accumulated over years without UFB’s knowledge, The Herald previously reported.
Two students are currently in the running for the UFB-UCS liaison position.
Candidate Johann Dizon ’24 said that he hoped to foster better communication between the branches of student government and remove any “bureaucratic processes” that may exist.
Carlos Ramos ’24 ran uncontested for the UFB at-large representative position and will serve in the role this school year.
Students also had the opportunity to run for the position of TRUE representative, a new role that was created to give transfer and resumed undergraduate education students an explicit voice in student government, The Herald previously reported.
The two candidates running for the position shared their belief that the TRUE community has a set of unique hurdles and experiences during their time at Brown that should be addressed by UCS.
As TRUE students, “you’re not just going to Brown,” said Max Karpawich ’23, who is also a member of The Herald’s podcast team. “You’re often also entering a better world than the one you left behind, (but) there are perils to that world that are unique to the TRUE community.”
Internal elections voting, which is only open to individuals who attended Wednesday’s meeting, will take place via Google Forms. Results of the internal elections will be announced at 10 p.m. today on the steps of the Stephen Roberts ’62 Campus Center.
Voting for the UCS first-year representatives election began among first-years on Tuesday and will conclude today at noon. The results of those elections and the Class Coordinating Board elections will also be announced today.
The Council also shared at the meeting that applications for undergraduates to join University committees are now open. These committees give undergraduates the opportunity to work directly with the University on policies and recommendations, said UCS Appointments Chair Joon Nam ’23.
