Four candidates are vying to become the undergraduate Student Association’s president for the 2026-27 year.
The seat was left vacant after then-President Jack Koscinski resigned the role in July.
SA presidential and Senate elections will run simultaneously this week, opening 9:00 a.m. Monday and closing 4:00 p.m. Friday. The biannual $109 mandatory activity fee referendum is also in full swing, from 9:00 a.m. Monday to 4:00 p.m. Friday.
E-board members are paid $19,500 annually.
The election started with five presidential candidates in the race — Qawiyah Owodunni had informed The Spectrum on Sunday, Sept. 13 that she dropped out of the race due to “other opportunities.”
The Spectrum contacted Donald Wright for an interview, but could not schedule one in time for publication.
Charlene Okine
Last semester’s runner-up for president, Okine returned to the ballot with the same mission: to make sure UB’s undergraduate students’ voices are heard.
Okine — the only independent presidential candidate during last spring’s 2026-27 e-board elections — trailed behind Koscinski by only 442 votes.
Many of her goals from last semester remain the same: ensuring that students feel heard and represented, bettering the on-campus experience and improving engagement.
Okine wants to provide students with more opportunities to network and connect with people in their intended fields. Having already worked for and with people in her field as an aspiring attorney, Okine seeks to extend that experience to students.
“We’re all in school at the end of the day,” said Okine.
Social media continues to be her main way of connecting with students, and this time, she plans to add an in-person presence. South Campus might be one of her new stops.
“Maybe branching out even more and going on other campuses is something I should’ve done [last election],” Okine said.
Maintaining transparency continues to be a core part of Okine’s platform.
To bridge the gap between SA and the student body, Okine plans to use SA’s instagram to conduct polls for students, as well as a physical suggestion box.
While SA has done a good job in the past, a lot of students lack trust in the organization, Okine said.
“I’m here to work for them, not to work for SA,” Okine, a political science junior said, “I’m here to support them, to understand them, to listen to them.”
Okine doesn’t plan on being completely the same, however. Students had brought up concerns over her lack of experience in SA, according to Okine. She attended club meetings but was not an e-board member, which some took issue with.
As a result, Okine spent the summer learning more about SA and recently attended meetings to further her understanding of how SA works internally. She’s also now the event coordinator of UB’s National Black Law Students’ Association Pre-Law chapter, co-activities coordinator of UB’s African Student Association and community service chair of UB’s Powerful United Ladies Striving to Elevate chapter.
“So I said, ‘Okay, I want to be someone who understands,’” said Okine.
Pranavan Balachandran
The only SA e-board member on the ballot, Balachandran is hoping to move up.
Balachandran understands how clubs work inside and out, drawing on his experience as the president of the Tamil Student Association and SA’s 2026-27 vice president for clubs. He believes that clubs are the groundwork of SA, and where many students find their community.
He cited how he, along with the rest of the SA 2026-27 e-board, pushed more money into clubs. Supplemental funding increased by more than 50% which he called, “unprecedented.”
“We put more money into clubs than ever seen before,” said Balachandran, a business administration junior. “Just because we want to foster these clubs and allow them to generate new events that these students can be able to attend and make it a more enjoyable experience for our body.”
Balachandran spent the whole summer hiring and preparing his club services department, which he says is not the norm. Typically, the department is hired near the beginning of the fall semester and completes training during the first week of classes.
“Last year, I recall the sports council coordinator was hired and he didn’t know what he was doing. And he told me that,” said Balachandran. “He called me and I was like, I’ll take these concerns and make sure this doesn’t happen with the next person.”
Finances don’t scare Balachandran away from the presidency.
Interning for M&T Bank over the past summer taught Balachandran how to work with money, and what he should and should not do when it comes to finances — a skill he plans to carry into his presidency.
“I can parallel those skills into the position of presidency as well, just because finances are going to be a very important part of that,” Balachandran said.
Aidan Thomas
Senate chairperson Thomas is also not new to the Student Association scene, being a former senator and now gunning for the Presidential seat under the “Unity4UB” party with candidates, Vivianna Ricci, Philip Ouma and Adam Brennan. Thomas is the only candidate running for both presidential and Senate positions.
Last spring, he made the bid for 2026-27 SA vice president for clubs and fell behind Balachandran by only 237 points.
He says being Senate chairperson gave him the experience to learn SA procedures, bylaws and functions that would be an asset to his presidency. Thomas also cites strong relationships with the professional staff, the rest of the 2026-27 e-board and Senate.
While Thomas believes that UB promotes a welcoming environment, he says it can be intimidating for freshmen and international students to adjust to a new place. His solution to this is building a culture within SA that informs the student body and increases outreach.
“I want our students to feel welcome,” said Thomas. “I think that everyone’s lives are better served when we have a stronger relationship between the elected representatives and their constituents.”
One of Thomas’ primary goals is to mend the detachment between SA senators and e-board staff, a problem that “wastes some talent”.
To remedy this, he plans to put senators on initiatives with SA staff to ensure that senators’ skills are being used accordingly. Checks and balances will also be strengthened — the e-board will report back to the Senate on current and future initiatives.
“The Senators, not only, are the oversight board directors who should not only be watching over the e-board and knowing what they’re doing,” Thomas said. “They’re also perfectly capable students who were elected with the intention of serving these initiatives.”
Thomas believes that clubs are essential for students and looks to secure that for students by allocating proper funding and redirecting funding, so that everyone gets the budget they need to function, and hopefully grow in the future. He plans to get input on SA policies from club leaders and regularly survey them for guidance and feedback.
Additionally, he plans to restructure the room reservation system — a long-complained problem by clubs over its inconvenience. Thomas intends to explore how he can change the room reservation systems by bringing his concerns before the university with a delegation of students, senators and e-board staff.
“I think the best way you can serve the students is to serve their livelihoods,” Thomas said. “And their livelihoods often live in the clubs.”
Ava Marsala contributed to the reporting of this article.
Dorothy Similien is the assistant news editor and can be reached at dorothy.similien@ubspectrum.com.
The news desk can be reached at news@ubspectrum.com.
Photo: Courtesy of UB Athletics; Credit: Paul Hokanson
