On Tuesday, Sept. 30, the Committee on Student Elections (CSE) released the results for the Fall 2025 Student Government Association (SGA) Freshmen Elections. The Class of 2029 positions available for this cycle included the Class Council President, Class Council members and the Class Programming Council. Approximately 50% of the freshman class voted in the elections, with 647 total ballots cast for Freshman Class President.
For this election, Veda Kommineni was voted into the presidency with 241 ballots (37.25%). When asked for comment, Kommineni outlined some of the major initiatives that she intends to implement in the upcoming school year in an email to The News-Letter.
“One of the initiatives I hope to implement during my time as class president is a Career Closet, which is a space where students can access professional clothing for free so that they can show up to interviews, internships, or big opportunities with confidence,” she wrote. “I’ve heard a lot of complaints about the way SGA allocates funding for student organizations, and hopefully I'm able to better understand the interests of my class by working with various organizations and [fixing] that area.”
Kommineni’s mission stems from her love of connecting with those around her. She explains her personal goal to learn the names of everyone in her class, emphasizing the importance of having students feel comfortable in sharing ideas.
“One of my goals is to learn the names of, and meet, every single person in my class,” she wrote. “Even if it takes a while, I really want people to feel comfortable approaching me with new ideas and solutions, and I believe the best way to do so is by connecting with each and every student personally.”
The Class Council members also consisted of Steve Yang, who received 263 votes (40.65%), Isaac Zhang with 251 votes (38.79%), Shreemann Patel with 246 votes (38.02%) and Kai Martin with 167 votes (25.81%).
In an email to The News-Letter, Patel emphasized the need for Hopkins students and for the University itself to connect with Baltimore City. He explains how improving the relationship between the University and Baltimore would benefit both parties.
“It’s no secret that Hopkins’ relationship with Baltimore is shaky at best. We have so many students eager to use their talents and explore career interests, and we can use that energy to support Baltimore. But one thing we don't do enough of is listen,” he wrote. “I want to create space for Baltimore leaders and residents to guide us, helping us help them by identifying their greatest needs. This allows for a win-win situation, where more opportunities open up for students, and Baltimore can receive additional support.”
When asked about goals for the future, Patel discusses the need for improved infrastructure, outlining the issue of accessibility in terms of crossing campus paths as well as appliance issues in living spaces. He noted that while the issues have straightforward solutions, they require student advocacy in order to be effectively addressed.
“On the infrastructure side, there is a lot to tackle. We need more accessible and reasonable paths around campus construction,” he wrote. “Wi-Fi is so central to education now that it's unacceptable how unreliable the connection is across campus. We also face constant issues with printers, dryers, and other basic services. Most of these have simple solutions, we just need to push for these changes.”
Further, Patel outlined concerns with public safety. He illustrates his goals in crafting the SGA’s commitment to providing a safe and secure campus for student life and explained that ensuring this requires both accountability and consistent presence from security personnel.
“More recently, I've started considering student safety. I learned it took 25 minutes for 911 to arrive after a student called, which is ridiculous. A student's bike was stolen in front of a public safety officer. Sometimes, officers will abandon their posts,” he explained. “These are serious concerns, and we need to make sure students feel safe in every sense of the word.”
When asked about initiatives for the upcoming year, Zhang illustrated his priorities. He emphasized the importance of addressing long-standing academic concerns that would affect students’ abilities to balance coursework and explore interests.
Zhang described his views regarding academic credit and Foundational Abilities (FA) requirements in an email to The News-Letter, focusing on improving flexibility and accessibility for students.
“I would like to bring credit overloading to both [Krieger School of Arts and Sciences (KSAS)] and [Whiting School of Engineering (WSE)] instead of just WSE right now. Another project that I would like to work on is making FAs more streamlined with [students’] majors and easier to complete,” Zhang wrote. “I would do this by allowing FAs to overlap with each other, enlarging the FA categories, or decreasing credit requirements to fulfill a FA.”
For the Programming Class Council, Ariana Lopez Orellana, Wing Chen and Thomas Koh were elected with 332 votes (51.31%), 251 votes (38.79%) and 240 votes (37.09%), respectively.
