It’s that time of the year once again. The Student Government Association (SGA) elections are set for March 30 and 31, where numerous candidates are running for executive, legislative and programming positions.
For the past two years, The News-Letter voiced its disappointment with the lack of participation in SGA elections, where multiple positions were either uncontested or didn’t even have any candidates running for them. We were pleased to see this trend change this year, although significant positions like Student Body Secretary and Student Body Treasurer are still uncontested.
Especially for the position of executive president, the enthusiasm and hard work of the candidates impressed the Editorial Board. This year’s candidates for the executive board worked on numerous initiatives, including the distribution of menstrual products, dining initiatives and updates to academic policies. We hope that the level of engagement on SGA’s side will be matched by voter engagement — we once again emphasize the necessity of participating in the election process.
Upon interviewing the SGA Executive Board candidates, The News-Letter endorses Omotara Tiamiyu for Student Body President, Jazzlyn Fernandez for Student Body Vice President, Amy Xu for Student Body Treasurer and Grace Guan for Chair of Programming.
Student Body President
The News-Letter endorses junior Omotara Tiamiyu for the position of Student Body President. Tiamyu is currently Student Body Vice President and has served as a Sophomore Class Senator and the head of the Student Services Committee in previous years. She is running on a ticket with vice presidential candidate Sumire Sumi. Tiamiyu’s platform, The Blueprint, highlights her vision for SGA by focusing on five areas: transportation, dining, student life, mental health and academics.
Tiamiyu’s previous accomplishments include the Menstrual Products Initiative, which updated and expanded the product dispensers available on campus. Other initiatives that Tiamiyu has worked on include expanding the availability of Meals-in-a-Minute food at CharMar, free transportation during the 2024 elections cycle, and supporting resolutions and meetings for various political and social issues.
We believe that Tiamiyu’s three years with SGA have provided her with the experience and understanding needed for the position of Student Body President. We also appreciate the detailed transparency she provided through The Blueprint platform, which lists plans and action steps to achieve the differences she hopes to implement.
Other candidates include Seán Durkis-Dervogne and Jason Yu.
Durkis-Dervogne is a Whiting School of Engineering (WSE) Senator who introduced the Course Transparency Platform (CTP). The CTP aims to inform students of the percentage of students that have earned a B or above in every class. While we appreciate his dedication to interviewing students to learn more about their experiences at Hopkins, we are concerned by his vision to rely less on administration. The Editorial Board believes that such procedures are important in ensuring the collection of reliable data for successful projects.
Yu is a current Sophomore Class President and Chair of the Student Services Committee. Last year, he served as Freshman Class President and has made a significant number of changes during his time in SGA. He is running on a ticket with Xu, Fernandez, Muratori and Guan. He has worked with Hopkins Dining to introduce a new Boba Milk Tea station at Levering, advocated for lower prices at the Student Center and collaborated with the IT department to improve Wi-Fi spots on campus. We respect Yu’s enthusiasm in his initiatives and commitment to uplifting school spirit. However, we wish the rationale behind some of his initiatives — including a proposal for free nap classes — were explained more clearly.
Student Body Vice President
For the role of Student Body Vice President, we endorse Jazzlyn Fernandez. Fernandez is currently a Junior Class Senator and the only junior on the Senior Commencement Committee.
Fernandez brings a strong record of experience within SGA and a clear vision for how to improve transparency and engagement across the student body. Fernandez’s proposal to create a public initiatives tracker, as well as her commitment to regularly update students on SGA’s progress through more frequent email communications, reflect her emphasis on accountability and accessibility.
Fernandez has been involved in SGA for the past three years and has held several positions that gave her a strong understanding of the inner workings of student government, which will help her navigate its structure and implement meaningful initiatives. She served as the Freshman Secretary in the Programming Council and transitioned to Class Senator for her sophomore and junior years. Her track record of following through with aspired initiatives, combined with her familiarity of SGA policies and organizational structure, positions Fernandez very strongly to take on the responsibilities of vice president.
During her time as senator, Fernandez demonstrated an ability to turn ideas into action. As an example, she surveyed over 350 members of the student body about their reaction to the new credit policy for the class of 2028, taking the conversation to the deans of Krieger School of Arts and Sciences (KSAS) and WSE. They are currently discussing potential plans to reform the current credit policy.
The other candidate, Sumi, currently serves as Student Body Secretary, a role that requires commitment and coordination. We appreciate her dedication and her proposed dining swipes initiative, but, in our opinion, Sumi's past achievements were overshadowed by Fernandez's initiatives. Fernandez, by contrast, offers a stronger balance of experience, vision and demonstrated results.
Although Fernandez is not running on the same ticket as our endorsed candidate for president, Tiamiyu, we believe that Fernandez’s continued commitment to SGA and her focus on transparency make her the strongest candidate for the position.
Student Body Secretary
For the uncontested position of Student Body Secretary, we are unable to provide commentary on Honora Muratori, given that she did not respond in time to The News-Letter’s request for comment. For more information on her platform, see here.
Student Body Treasurer
For the uncontested position of Student Body Treasurer, we endorse junior Amy Xu. Xu has previously served as Finance Committee Chair and a WSE Senator, focusing on Academic Affairs. Xu is currently running on a ticket with Yu, Fernandez, Muratori and Guan.
As Student Body Treasurer, Xu aims to improve communication between student organizations and strengthen resource navigation and advising for activities such as fundraising and events. Her experience in finance and academic advocacy gives her a strong foundation for the position.
Chair of Programming
For the role of Chair of Programming, we endorse junior Grace Guan.
Guan brings strong experience from two years on the Class Programming council. She has worked on events such as the Sophomore Formal and Battle of the Classes and led the Juniors’ Jay Gatsby Gala, the HopFox Plushie Hunt and the Return to Nevermore Haunt. Guan’s platform focuses on improving student morale through new traditions and accessible programming. We especially appreciate her proposal to expand SGA’s subsidization for student organization tabling and believe Guan’s clear focus on building a more lively campus community render her well-suited for the role.
We are unable to comment on Wing Chen, the other candidate, who did not respond to The News-Letter’s request for comment.
While we applaud SGA for having at least one, well-qualified candidate for each position, we hope that, in the future, we can see elections in which each position is contested, allowing students to choose from a more diverse pool of candidates. We hope that next year’s Executive Board will continue to increase the engagement of the student body with SGA and motivate more students to contribute to campus democracy.
Honora Muratori is a staff writer for The News-Letter and had no involvement in the reporting of this article.
