The Graduate Student Council (GSC) unanimously elected its co-chair Elena Vasilache Monday after swearing in newly-elected council members in the Spring 2026 election.
The meeting was chaired by Casey Chan, a third-year Ph.D. candidate. Several newly elected council members were sworn in by Celeste Vargas ’27, vice president of the Associate Students of Stanford University (ASSU).
The new class of GSC council members was elected in the Spring 2026 ASSU general election held on April 16.
After being sworn in, council members showed interest in other roles, including treasurer, financial officer and members at large.
Mofopefoluwa Ajani ’25, a second-year Ph.D. candidate, and Vasilache, a fourth-year Master of Liberal Arts (MLA) student, vied for the co-chair seat and discussed their qualifications for the role at the meeting, who would be working alongside Chan.
Vasilache, who served as treasurer in the 2025-26 GSC, talked about her experience of “making Stanford affordable” while serving in the role, and also highlighted the need to improve the reputation of Stanford students as one of the co-chair’s priorities.
“I was in the University of California, Los Angeles’s (UCLA’s) library last quarter, they did not check any bags and ID… why aren’t we being treated like that in Stanford?” Vasilache said.
She cited the national media attention following Elsa Johnson’s ’27 essay on disability accommodations at Stanford — which portrayed students as gaming the system — as an example of why GSC needs to be more proactive about how Stanford students are represented publicly.
Brain Zhang, a first-year M.D. candidate, endorsed the speech, saying that GSC needs someone with both experience and passion to serve in the co-chair seat. Ajani quit running for the seat after hearing Vasilache’s speech.
“You have done so much last year… I was sold by that speech,” Ajani said.
Vasilache was unanimously elected after Ajani stepped down.
When being asked about the biggest challenge she anticipates in serving as GSC co-chair, Vasilache said that her status as a remote student would be a challenge.
According to her, she would have to fly to Stanford every Wednesday morning and fly back late at night as a student living in Los Angeles — the University is not able to provide her with housing due to her part-time status.
Vasilache, who is from the Republic of Moldova, mentioned that English is not her first language. Zhang, following this point, added that it would be meaningful to have someone of an international background to serve as GSC’s co-chair, given the current atmosphere surrounding immigration policy.
The meeting also focused on other agenda items, including three funding items and a presentation by a representative from Rains Art and Music Festival (Rains Festival). According to Chan, GSC will work with Rains Festival on their activity funding issues next week.