In a rare year when candidates outnumber the undergraduate Student Association’s (SA) Senate seats, 19 candidates are in the running for 12 seats for this fall’s elections.
The SA senate allocates the $4.5 million and SA budget — all funded by the $109 mandatory student activity fee — to clubs and events, and acts as advocates for the student body.
The Spectrum interviewed 17 out of the 19 candidates on their experiences and goals.
Owen Walker, an independent candidate, did not respond to The Spectrum’s three requests for an interview by the time of publication.
The Spectrum was unable to schedule an interview with Pranavan Balachandran, a candidate running under the one-person “REAL” party, by the time of publication.
The Student Voice:
Aeaad Alawaad
Michelangelo Fontana
Ismat Haque
Grant Peterson
Rima Saeed
“The Student Voice” party wants to live up to its name.
All members believe that not every student is benefitting from SA— one of their main priorities is to host more events that appeal to all student interests and more opportunities for diverse communities to interact.
Alawaad, a sophomore in UB’s early assurance PharmD program who immigrated to the U.S. from Iraq, said that he hasn’t seen big events from SA bringing students together besides Fest.
Fontana called Festival of Cultures Uniting Students (FOCUS), a cultural student-led parade and festival held every night of the new student move-in each fall by UB’s Campus Living, “lackluster.”
“I’ve heard international students complain that the food is ‘Americanized’ beyond the point of recognition, and not to mention the only cultural part of the festival is the food,” Fontana said. “We need to put more funding there in order to ensure that it truly is a festival made to encapsulate UB’s diversity. When in office, we will also consider other events and programs that work to highlight and promote our diverse student body.”
Protecting students’ freedom of speech is also at the forefront. Peterson says that SA should be politically neutral, but it should have a feel for what people believe here.
“I think there's a collective set of values here that we have, and SA should reflect that without being political,” Peterson said.
Last January, Peterson had over 40 discrimination and harassment allegations filed against him at Nassau Community College (NCC), resulting in his suspension from all club or organizational leadership roles — including his role as student chair in NCC’s Academic Senate — for the remainder of the academic year. Some complaints accused Peterson of using “strong language,” citing instances when he called an administrator an ‘idiot’ and told another student, “you have no idea what you’re talking about, once again.”
The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression — an organization centered on protecting free speech on college campuses — filed a letter to NCC in February, accusing the college of mishandling the complaints against Peterson, in addition to another student’s.
Peterson told The Spectrum that he can’t comment in-depth on the situation due to having retained an attorney, but that the complaints were filed in retaliation for a complaint he had first filed against members of the NCC faculty for “bullying and harassment.” He also pointed to his work in organizing student efforts to criticize NCC on academic and club funding cuts.
“So essentially, being in opposition to the whims of the college admin means that they can censor and censure you with impunity at their college in retaliation to demonstration, free speech and publicly voting against their policies,” Peterson said.
Haque and Saeed bring in their own set of leadership experiences.
Haque, a freshman mechanical engineering major, held the title of Vice President of External Affairs for Youth
Tutoring Project: a Canadian based non-profit organization offering free tutoring services for students in grades one through eight. She also founded and served as President of the Muslim Student Association at her high school, where she organized events and facilitated meetings.
Saeed, a sophomore intending on going into the accounting program and a Daniel Ackers scholar, also brings experience. As a member of her high school’s Board of Directors she planned student events.
Unity4UB:
Arya Dixit
Sierra Fernandez
Gavin Krauciunas
Piyush Ohri
Aidan Thomas
The “Unity4UB” party says many students are either unfamiliar or unhappy with SA, which is why better communication, transparency and improvement of club relationships are at the core of the party’s platform.
“If you speak to any club head that's in an SA-funded club, they will say time and time again that they hate dealing with the Student Association,” Thomas said. “It just shouldn't be that way.” The group promises to make personal connections with the student body. They want to release more information about where SA money is going, and create healthy and streamlined relationships with clubs to better provide funding.
“I want to smile. I want to shake somebody's hand or dap somebody up and say, ‘Hey, you want to sit in on the Senate meeting tonight?’” Thomas said.
The party prides themselves on being a diverse group of students who they believe are fit to represent the student body. They are studying a wide array of majors and come from differing backgrounds that connect them to many different sectors of the student population.
“I think that we've really integrated a group of candidates that represents the whole university and represents the interest of the student body,” Thomas said.
Krauciunas served as SA senate chairperson for the past two years and had ran for SA president in the ‘24-25 and '25-26 officer elections last spring under "The Stampede” party. His passion for leadership and dedication to helping people drives him to run again for Senate.
Dixit, a sophomore political science major, serves as philanthropy chair in Tau Kappa Epsilon, where he helped raise around $2,500 for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
Tau Kappa Epsilon is currently not a recognized fraternity at UB. Dixit told The Spectrum that the chapter is in the process of registering for recognition.
Thomas, a sophomore political science and business administration major, has no leadership positions at UB yet but he always had a passion for “taking the lead” and “taking something broken and fixing it.” He took over as newspaper editor during his senior year of high school, bringing an unknown publication back into print and getting it distributed across campus.
Fernandez, a freshman exercise science major, participated in UB’s “Ready Set Buffalo” and Leadership House programs. Back in high school, she spent three years as a part of her campus ambassador’s leadership team and was a part of the Fellowship for Christian Athletes.
Ohri, a freshman mechanical engineering student, immigrated to the United States from India in the middle of high school. Thanks to this — and with his ability to speak three languages — he says he can connect to the large Indian community here on campus, as well as international students.
Bulls:
Sanjeev Khatiwada
Bulls: Sanjeev Khatiwada
Khatiwada — a neuroscience major — wants to bring the voices of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) majors to the SA Senate.
Khatiwada is not a traditional student either, having worked in startup companies for the past few years after briefly spending one year on UB’s campus in 2019. He says that the experiences gave him leadership skills such as the ability to read people, and identify others’ strengths and weaknesses.
Unlike many other Senator candidates that have larger goals they want to accomplish., Khatiwada isn’t focused on specific changes. He would rather gain experience in SA to see “what is working and what, if anything, needs change.”
UB Forward:
Joshua Brodsky
Brodsky keeps the same energy and passion as he did during his last run for SA Vice President for Advocacy during last spring’s officer elections, with goals to boost student advocacy, administrative honesty and campus services.
The best way to achieve progress depends on “keeping a good middle ground,” with a focus on compromise, according to Brodsky. He plans to give all perspectives fair representation and has begun to involve students in the Senate elections, discussing with passerbys about his plans as SA senator.
“I went around the school asking if people know about SA…and to be honest, not too many people know about it,” Brodsky said. “I explained that I'm running, and here are my policies. And, many didn't know about the $109 fee. So they're like, ‘my voice should be heard.’”
Brodsky did not reference any leadership experience, but he believes in the importance of the ability to connect with the student body. He calls himself a “dark horse” candidate and hopes to continue open conversation with students.
“Engineers ‘R’ Us”:
Adam Bilali
TJ Ledwith
Cole Devantier
Bilali, Ledwith and Devantier refused to give The Spectrum an interview, saying that they preferred to provide a written statement to “ensure our ideas are presented clearly and accurately.”
The party’s responses to The Spectrum’s questions were sent from Ledwith.
All three believe an established connection will promote efficient progress, with their campaign focusing on a smoother experience for clubs and transparency.
They want to make the “purchasing process” easier for clubs to help prevent them from becoming “a victim of bureaucracy.” With their understanding of SA administration and the current e-board, the three plan to work with stakeholders, SA’s accounting firm and lawyer to confirm that any proposed policies are both legal and possible.
While they plan to hear the perspectives of other SA members and admin, they “will be persistent in representing the undergraduate student body regardless of how things were done in the past.”
Having seen SA from both club and administrative standpoints, they believe that knowing the system, having connections and first-hand experience opens the door for change. The party says they will “stop at nothing to ensure that the changes we and our fellow students want to make are accomplished.”
Independents:
Tiffany Verdugo
Verdugo believes that SA should be the ones going out to meet students instead of it being the other way around.
Students’ schedules keep them from voicing concerns at SA meetings, but by tabling in UB’s populated areas, they can get a more accessible chance to talk directly to senators, she says.
“A designated space where students can actually see them. It wouldn't require them to go to the third floor of the student union, because not many students spend the time there,” Verdugo said. “But I'd say more in common areas, like you see tabling in Knox.”
Verdugo says that her experience from being elected a State University of New York (SUNY) Student Assembly delegate in her freshman year gave her a larger perspective of college student lives because she was working with students from all 64 SUNY institutions. She served as the secretary for UB’s Model United Nations/European Union club during her freshman year and is currently a Residential Hall Association senator for a second term.
Verdugo says she’s ready to advocate for students and wants students to have trust in SA. Additionally, a role in SA is a stepping stone for her future in government and policy, and Verdugo values the experience it can give her.
Verdugo previously ran for SA Senate during a special election that was open last fall to fill in vacancies.
Lucky Lakra
As a freshman computer science major and international student, Lakra’s goal is to bring UB more clubs for coders and Indian students.
She says that clubs for computer science majors are overrun and that the university needs more Hindu clubs to support the amount of Indian students attending.
“I know what they think, what they have experienced,” Lakra said. “I'm gonna actually implement some more clubs and some more events, so that they can actually feel at home away from home. It's a little difficult for us to actually adjust.”
Lakra’s new to the college scene but she isn’t completely new to how a club runs, having been an event coordinator and vice president of her high school’s Nehru club. She wants to utilize her experience if elected to SA, saying that she wants to have SA work to its best capacity as the student government.
Undergraduates can vote on UBLinked until 4:00 p.m. Sept. 19.
"CORRECTION: The article has been updated to reflect the correct dates of the elections when Kraucianas ran for SA president. It is both the '24-25 and the '25-26 elections, not the '26-27 elections. Additionally, Kraucianas ran under the "The Stampede" party both elections, not the "Bulls" party. We regret these errors."
The news desk can be reached at news@ubspectrum.com
Emma Mendola is a student at Amherst Central High School and a high school intern at The Spectrum.
