The Ithaca College Student Governance Council held its platform presentations for candidates running for SGC executive board, and senator positions for the 2025-26 academic year.
Campaigning began at 11:59 p.m. April 24 and will end at 4:59 p.m. April 29. Voting opens on IC Engage at 9 a.m. April 28 and will be open until 4:59 p.m. April 29. All students will be emailed the link to vote.
Executive board candidates
There are six executive board positions: president of the student body, vice president of campus affairs, vice president of academic affairs, vice president of communications, vice president of business and finance and vice president of residential affairs.
Sophomore Eva Horst is running for reelection as the vice president of campus affairs. She said as the vice president of campus affairs she sponsored a bill that updated the college’s Advertising and Solicitation Policy, providing more flexibility in the ways clubs can advertise to students.
“What I really want to do is create and improve resources for all students to create meaningful professional relationships that will carry long into their careers,” Horst said.
Junior Noeline Luyindula, first-generation senator, is also running to be the vice president of campus affairs. She said she would like to organize questions for Stanley Bazile, vice president of student affairs and campus life, based on the different departments that fall under student affairs and campus life like the Office of Residential Life and the Office of Public Safety and Emergency Management.
“Whatever it is I do, I have to [do] my best ability, because the person that’s behind has to be better than I am,” Luyindula said.
First-year student Amelia Grimshaw, Class of 2028 senator, is running for the position of vice president of academic affairs. She was not at the platform presentations but sent in a video presentation, which included a slideshow of her goals for the vice president of academic affairs. The goals included making registration easier for first-year students, improving current academic policy and giving student feedback on academics to administration.
Junior Asata Rothblatt, a Class of 2026 senator from Fall 2022 to Spring 2024, is also running to be the vice president of academic affairs. She said she would focus on campus sustainability, safety and accommodations for accessibility.
“I want this to be a campus where everyone is safe and able to study,” Rothblatt said. “And that’s what we’re here for, to learn, to be the best versions of ourselves.”
Junior transfer senator Login Abudalla is running for the position of vice president of business and finance. She said she is developing an Ithaca College crash course alongside the Office of Information Technology and Analytics that will be launching in the 2025-26 academic year. She said she would like to hold weekly office hours to answer student organizations and clubs’ questions and help them with their budgets.
“Creating a space for an open dialogue really is my ideal goal for this position,” Abudalla said. “Because frankly things can get lost in translation over email.”
Sophomore Juno Brooks, Class of 2027 senator, is also running to be the vice president of business and finance. He said he would like to increase student participation in the SGC appropriations committee, increase understanding of business and finance among students at the college and address community distrust around the financial institutions within the college.
“If you ask, ‘Hey, what is this, what is the financial state of the college?’ You get referred to these long tax documents that you can’t really decipher without assistance,” Brooks said. “So, I’d like to have a student focused financial review that addresses specifically what students are concerned about.”
Junior Rishabh Sen, president of the student body, Junior Caleb Cackowski, vice president of communications and Ty Anderson, vice president of residential affairs, are all running for reelection unopposed. Cackowski was not at the platform presentations but sent in a video presentation.
Senator candidates
There are eight senate positions that candidates are running for, including both of the Class of 2028 senators, the senator for the School of Business, the senator for the School of Communications, the first-generation senator and three senators-at-large. There are 16 open senate positions that candidates are not running for that may be filled in the future.
First-year student Manan Maini is running for reelection as one of two Class of 2028 senators. First-year student Jagrit Dhingra is also running to be one of two Class of 2028 senators. They are both running unopposed.
Sophomore Angel Pandey is running unopposed to be the senator for the School of Business. She was not at the platform presentations but sent in a video presentation.
First-year student Pranat Shah is running unopposed to be the senator for the School of Communications.
First-year student Luis Antonio Toriche is running unopposed for the position of the first-generation senator.
First-year student Abe Marron is running for reelection as a senator-at-large. First-year student Ty Sayahi is running for the position of senator-at-large. Junior Senate Chair Nikki Sutera is running to be a senator-at-large. They are all running unopposed because there are five senator-at-large positions.
There are 16 open senate positions that candidates are not running for, that are: both Class of 2027 senators, both Class of 2026 senators, the senator for the School of Health Sciences and Human Performance, the senator for the School of Humanities and Sciences, the senator for the School of Music, Theatre, and Dance, the transfer senator, the international senator, the Student of Color Coalition senator, the varsity athlete senator, the club athlete senator, the off-campus senator, the graduate senator and two senators-at-large.
The SGC is the sole representative body for the Ithaca College student community. The SGC meets from 7-9 p.m. every Monday in the Taughannock Falls room of the Campus Center. The SGC can be contacted at [email protected].
