Voting for the Student Government Association’s Spring 2025 elections opens April 16 at noon. The current chair of the Undergraduate Finance Board, Naomi LeDell ’26, will run unopposed alongside Kieran Lucus ’26, who is also running unopposed for vice chair.
SGA will host a candidate forum on Monday in collaboration with Brown Political Union to allow candidates to deliver speeches to the student body, followed by open tabling. Last year’s election cycle was shorter and did not include a forum, The Herald previously reported.
Voting will close on April 21 at noon.
Naomi LeDell ’26: Chair
As the current chair of UFB, LeDell said she secured a $203,000 increase in the Student Activities budget for the 2025-26 academic year. As part of her platform, LeDell plans to advocate for the retention of this increase, particularly in light of a planned $510 million federal funding freeze at Brown.
“I know how UFB works, how to advocate for clubs and how to get things done,” she said in an interview with The Herald.
LeDell’s platform also includes advocacy for access to what she says are underutilized spaces — such as the Lindemann Performing Arts Center — as well as accessible funding processes for clubs. She added that she hopes to continue to build upon personal relationships with student leaders.
“I’ve seen where the process gets stuck. I have ideas, the relationships and the experience to fix it,” she said. “I’m just proud to say that there’s no learning curve with me.”
This year, LeDell expanded financial support for club events, including funds for critical event costs such as fire safety, the Department of Public Safety and Media Services. She also restructured annual funding preparation to include office hours and in-person workshops to “make the process more accessible,” she said.
“These are real results, and they reflect my commitment to making UFB be more responsive, more effective and more equitable for the clubs,” LeDell said.
Last year, LeDell ran on a platform with three main priorities: bringing back large, fee-free events, supporting period product accessibility and increasing funding for events focused on improving student mental health.
Kieran Lucus ’26: Vice Chair
Lucus is a current representative at large for the UFB. He is running unopposed for vice chair.
“I honestly have nothing but positive things to say about my experience,” Lucus wrote in an email to the Herald. This year, Lucus is hoping to take on a “bigger leadership role.”
“I realized that my responsibility was to not only advocate for my clubs on a purely financial basis but also to advocate for the communities and undergraduate experiences of all students involved,” he wrote. As vice chair, Lucus said he would be responsible for representing the Category 3 clubs.
As part of his platform, Lucus hopes to take a “campus-engaged” approach to funding. He added that he would host a public forum or policy workshop that allowed for a dialogue between student leaders and UFB.
Lucus also aims to implement a stricter attendance policy within UFB.
“In doing so, I hope that no student groups will be held in limbo, confused about the status of their funding decision,” he wrote.
This year, Lucus also worked to increase baseline funding for clubs to $300.
“To me, the beauty of UFB is that although there is a leadership structure, we function as one cohesive board that makes decisions as a collective,” he wrote.
Hadley Carr is a university news editor at The Herald, covering academics & advising and student government.
