After the first in-person campaign season in two years, students will vote on Thursday and Friday for next year’s Associated Students of Stanford University (ASSU) representatives.
Three slates are competing for the ASSU Executive position, while 17 candidates are vying for 15 spots on the Undergraduate Senate. Two slates, RISES and SPARC, are running for the Sophomore Class Presidents position. A third slate, Root 4 Trees, was eligible for the ballot, but announced that it was withdrawing its candidacy on social media.
Five candidates are running for spots on the Graduate Student Council, which has 15 spots available. When spots are left vacant on the GSC after election, the council’s co-chairs typically reach out to groups and individuals and ask them to serve. Any candidates selected after the election process will be voted on by the sitting GSC councilors.
One slate is running unopposed for Junior Class Presidents, and the same holds for the Senior Class Presidents.
Students will also vote on several amendments to the ASSU constitution, including Single Transferable Voting for Undergraduate Senate Elections, Judicial Reforms, Gender Neutral Language and a Non-Discrimination Statement.
Additionally, students will vote on whether to approve or reject funding for student organizations. Stanford’s Sexual Health Peer Resource Center (SHPRC) will appear on the ballot alongside the full funding that they initially requested — $56,800— after obtaining more than 1,000 signatures (15% of the undergraduate population) in support of their petition disputing the lower amount recommended by the Senate.
Every eligible voter will receive an emailed link to the general election ballot, and the election will be held from Thursday at 12 a.m. to Friday at 11:59 p.m. Results will be announced Monday, April 25 at 5 p.m.
Below is a guide to the contested races: the Undergraduate Senate election, the Executive election and the Sophomore Class Presidents election.
ASSU Undergraduate Senate Candidates
Singh is a sophomore at Stanford.
Endorsements: Stanford’s First-Generation and/or Low-Income Partnership (FLIP)
Endorsements: Stanford’s First-Generation and/or Low-Income Partnership (FLIP)
Endorsements: Stanford’s First-Generation and/or Low-Income Partnership (FLIP)
Endorsements: Stanford’s First-Generation and/or Low-Income Partnership (FLIP)
Endorsements: Stanford’s First-Generation and/or Low-Income Partnership (FLIP)
Endorsements: Stanford’s First-Generation and/or Low-Income Partnership (FLIP)
Endorsements: Stanford’s First-Generation and/or Low-Income Partnership (FLIP)
Endorsements: Stanford’s First-Generation and/or Low-Income Partnership (FLIP)
ASSU Sophomore Class President Slates
R.I.S.E. (Reimagining Inclusivity and Social Engagement at Stanford) aims to sponsor class-wide events that “cater to everyone,” advocate for inclusivity, and promote “well-being across campus.” They aim to partner with CAPS to create “Monthly Mental Health Awareness and Boba Nights”, organize off-campus trips, and “lobby to bring back” late-night dining at Arrillaga. Ramachandran serves as a representative on Frosh Council and is a passionate environmental advocate, while Ahmad is an international student that hopes to prioritize “creating social experiences for students with different interests and backgrounds.” Sharma says he “values the on-campus experience” and hopes to organize social mixers and a “Wellness Week.” Holiday hails from a small town in Wyoming and hopes to focus on supporting students’ mental health.
S.P.A.R.C. (Sophomore Presidents are Reigniting Card) emphasize that their three primary goals are to bring back traditions, unite the class of 2025 “beyond neighborhood bounds,” and “restore” mental health. Each member of the slate hails from a different part of campus (Crothers, Flo-Mo, Lag, and GovCo, respectively). The slate features Ex-Officio ASSU reps, Senate SAPS, and representatives to the Frosh Council. SPARC’s members underscore their “dynamic platform” which is “constantly adapting to the changing needs” of the class of 2025. SPARC hopes to organize cross-campus social events, “non-Greek life social opportunities,” and a “Tradition database” to bring back and create social traditions on campus. To promote diversity and equity, they hope to “create funds for accessibility” to social events and promote affinity spaces. They also plan to create a “sophomore specific guide” for accessing “Stanford therapists and consultants” and will host “office hours” both with students and administrators to improve transparency. They hope to collaborate with the ISC and IFC to provide “sexual assault training.”.
ASSU Executive President Slates
Thompson and Sanchez are “members of the international, FLI, transfer, black and Latinx communities” who are passionate about “advocating for the holistic wellbeing” of Stanford in its entirety. They have served as the Deputy Chair of the Undergraduate, and Executive Fellow for Transfer Advocacy. Their past achievements include advocating for extended library hours during finals week, increasing frosh representation on the Senate, and supporting ASSU’s COVID-19 Isolation Aid and Course Access Programs. To promote student wellbeing, they are advocating for policies such as sustaining social programming through Cardinal Nights and diversifying CAPS employees. They also intend to push for need-blind admissions for international students, increased financial aid for transfer students, and institutionalized mutual aid funds for FLI students. They hope to revive the Green Fund at Stanford and reduce food waste through investigating policies like repurposing food for home shelters.
Endorsements: Stanford’s Student Athlete Advisory Committee
Santo serves as an undergraduate senator and faculty representative of the Undergraduate Senate to the Faculty Senate, while Schell is a co-chair on the Diversity and Advocacy Committee on the Graduate Student Council, Faculty Senate co-representative from the GSC, and student representative to the Student, Alumni and External Affairs Committee on the Stanford Board of Trustees. Santo and Schell spearheaded “The Anti-Doxxing Recommendations ACT” which facilitated the Faculty Senate’s addition of doxxing to its interpretation of Fundamental Standard violations. They have also contributed to legislation encouraging educational equity and advocated for improved affordability of education and healthcare. They hope to align their governance with the Stanford community by increasing transparency, conducting surveys, and hosting town halls. They will also push to “increase institutional investment” in student well-being services and continue fighting for “greater affordability”, particularly for FLI students, doctoral students, and international students.
Phan has served in the ASSU since freshman year, as a SAPling and two-term senator. Her areas of focus are “mental health advocacy, sexual violence prevention, and academic accommodations.” She helped to reorganize the CAP website and distribute graphics of the Title IX process to make campus resources more accessible to students. Nichols currently serves as Senate Co-Chair and as Co-President of the Black Student Union, identifying as a “Black, FLI, and queer woman.” They hope to fight for racial justice on campus by creating a “direct resource” to “report policing incidents on campus” and demand “increased transparency” from the Community Board on Public Safety. They will also push CAPS to hire more staff and institutionalize “mental health and wellness days” for students to take each quarter. They will revamp the ASSU website and work toward “accelerating time” to create student groups and receive funding. They will offer their support for a Stanford Workers Union, fighting for increased pay for Stanford workers, and improve accessibility by re-establishing C/NC policies in major classes. They will push for “increased privacy and safety measures” in the Title IX Office, establish an anonymous form to report sexual violence, and “eliminate the binary” in Stanford documents by replacing the phrase “his or her” with “their.”
Endorsements: Stanford’s First-Generation and/or Low-Income Partnership (FLIP)