The Undergraduate Council of Students’s general elections will begin March 17, with three candidates campaigning for the role of UCS president and two for the role of UCS vice president.
Each candidate’s flyer can be accessed on the Student Government Association website.
Students can cast their ballot using a link that SGA will send to their emails. Voting will start at 12 p.m. March 17 and continue until 11:59 p.m. March 20.
Continuing UCS’s work: Mina Sarmas ’24
Mina Sarmas ’24 has an extensive UCS track record: She currently serves as its vice president, and previously served as its chair of campus life and a first-year representative.
Sarmas noted she hopes to be elected president to continue her work, she said: This past year, she has focused on initiatives surrounding free menstrual products and food insecurity, among others.
Throughout her time with UCS, the organization has created a menstrual product availability map located in the BrownU app, coordinated a free airport shuttle for students and planned an affirmative action town hall, according to her campaign flier.
If elected, Sarmas plans to connect the student body to UCS events through outreach while continuing efforts to improve student life, student wellness and student government, according to her flier. “We're starting to think about health services, STI testing and kind of demystifying a lot of these things that students need as basic (necessities),” she said. UCS is also currently working with the Rhode Island Community Food Bank to address food insecurity and is looking to create a “community fridge” “for students to pick up leftovers.
Sarmas noted she hopes to broaden the diversity of UCS by raising awareness among students who do not know what student government does in an effort “to bring different voices with different ideas.”
An outside voice: Daniel Greenberg ’25
Daniel Greenberg ’25 — currently not on UCS — is hopeful his outsider perspective will serve as an advantage to tackle University issues, he said.
Greenberg said he has been meeting with student and campus groups to create a checklist of changes the student body wants to see accomplished. These changes include improving street lighting on campus, revamping food offerings in libraries, improving the room booking process for student clubs and improving access to mental health services, among other initiatives.
“These are easy changes that we've been asking for (for) years,” he said.
While writing his checklist, Greenberg said he has connected with many students, relationships he hopes to continue fostering through his presidency. “I'm going to use my candidacy and presidency as a platform to power these other student groups to have a voice at the table,” he said.
“We've had the same problems for a while,” Greenberg said, adding that he is confident in his ability to fix them. “I think my work has already started (through) creating this checklist (and) through conversations with student group leaders.”
“I think UCS can use a new face to help get us as a student body back on track,” he noted.
‘A blank slate’: Axel Brito ’26
In his first year on campus, Axel Brito ’26 is aiming for the UCS presidency.
Brito explained that he is running on a platform focused on any issues that are of concern to the student body. “I have no ambitions for student politics but to listen,” his campaign handout reads. “I’m a blank slate, use this flyer to write your thoughts.”
Despite tailoring his campaign toward student concerns, Brito also hopes to strengthen the relationship between the University community and the Providence Public School District, with a proposed program incentivizing University students to tutor at local schools, earning money for themselves while giving back to the surrounding community.
Brito added that he prioritizes “disassociating from the fossil fuel industry” and including community members in UCS affairs.
Brito envisions UCS sessions that are not only more publicized but also more social, attracting interest and attendance from students, he added.
Soliciting more input: Sarah Frank ’25
Current UCS Secretary Sarah Frank ’25 previously served as Class Coordinating Board’s 2025 secretary during her first year at Brown. She is looking to expand her reach within UCS in the upcoming election.
Frank said she likes the idea of having “a hand in all of the things going on, whether it be campus life, diversity, equity and inclusion, health and wellness, all the different committees and collaborating with each of those chairs to work on projects.”
According to her campaign flier, Frank’s platform calls to improve transparency within UCS, increase collaboration with other branches of student government and raise student wages, along with other goals.
Frank said she also hopes to increase transparency between UCS and the student body by expanding access to meeting notes and summaries as well as offering more opportunities for UCS to solicit student ideas in addition to the organization’s current communications with students.
“We need more communication going the other way with people talking to us and telling us what they want,” she said. “I want to create an idea forum for people to submit ideas about things that aren't working.”
She also hopes to strengthen the University’s relationship with Providence.
“I think it's really important that the council look more outside of Brown and work on Brown’s relationship with Providence,” she said. “Brown takes a lot from the Providence community, and I feel like we're lucky enough to be in a position where we can give so much back.”
New positions and more collaboration: Justin Li ’24.5
Justin Li ’24.5, currently UCS appointments director and previously the organization’s secretary, said he is pursuing the vice presidency in hopes of having a greater say in policy changes than in his former roles.
“My current position is very logistical,” he said. “It's all about getting one project done after the other. But I really wanted to pursue something that (gives) me a platform where I can actually enact change on campus,” Li said.
Li said he hopes to expand communication between UCS and the student body through increased collaboration with the Class Coordinating Board, with the addition of a liaison between the two groups. Li also called to make UCS meeting notes readily accessible so the student body can keep up to date with its projects.
Li also hopes “to increase the number of official positions on UCS, such as an “arts and culture position, CCB liaisons (and) perhaps an LGBTQ-specific position.”
“I just want to make sure that student government is a space where all students, regardless of race, ethnicity, political beliefs (or) where they're from, are able to come and learn more about Brown and support the initiatives that we're pursuing,” he said.
On the topic of campus life, Li said he wants to institute “Food Truck Fridays” to bring local businesses to campus as a social event. He additionally hopes to make changes to the Satisfactory/No Credit deadline and the University’s system for students with academic accommodations.
Li, who is a Brown-RISD dual degree student, also discussed the possibility of improving meal plan options, proposing lower prices and a plan that allows students to swipe into Rhode Island School of Design dining halls.
Additional reporting by Kathy Wang.
