The new Student Union administration, including incoming Union President Andy Hogan '11 and Vice President Amanda Hecker '10, was sworn in and students were nominated for Executive Board positions at Union meetings held April 29 and May 3. Hogan told the Justice that he believed "next year was going to be a defining year at Brandeis," referring to the expected changes such as those proposed by the Curriculum and Academic Restructuring Steering committee. As Union president, Hogan said that he plans to become more involved in the decisions affecting the University.

Hogan added that his greatest challenge would be connecting the Student Union with the student body by creating more opportunities for the student body to become involved at the Union. Hogan added that he also wants to legitimize the Student Union by increasing student support and involvement. He also said that he would build upon much of the efforts by outgoing President Jason Gray '10 toward creating connections between the Student Union and University administration.

Hecker said in an interview with the Justice that she decided to run for vice president because she wanted to find a way for the Student Union to better represent the student body. She said that her major initiative as vice president will be to create a blog to serve as a medium between students and the Student Union, a measure that she says will lead to better communication and more transparency.

After being sworn in by outgoing Union President Jason Gray '10, Hogan swore in Daniel Acheampong '11 as Union Treasurer. Hogan swore in Sara Enan '11 as assistant treasurer. Jenna Rubin '11 was elected executive senator, defeating fellow nominees Nipun Marwaha '12 and Asa Bhuiyan '11.

Hogan also swore in incoming senators. Rami Abdelghafar '10 and Bhuiyan were sworn in as senators-at-large. Hogan swore in Michael Weil as senator for the Class of 2010. Michael Newborn and Rubin were sworn in as senators for the Class of 2011. Marwaha and Mark Zager were sworn in as Senators for the Class of 2012.

Hogan swore in Secretary Diana Aronin '11 and incoming members of the Finance Board, Akash Vadalia '12, Julia Cohen '10, Makensley Lordeus '11, Gabriel C. Weingrod Nemzow '12 and Lisa Qi '11. Hogan swore in members of the Union Judiciary Matt Kriegsman '11, Judah Marans '11, Neda Eid '11, Justin Pierre-Louis '10 and Leeyat Slyper '12. Nicole Cordero '11 and Heddy Ben-Atar '11 were sworn in as the junior representative to the Undergraduate Curriculum Committee and junior representative to the Board of Trustees, respectively. Samuel Fuchs '11 was sworn in as the junior representative to the Alumni Association.

As incoming president, Hogan was charged with nominating students to certain positions on the Executive Board, and the Senate discussed each nominee's confirmation.

Lev Hirschhorn, former senator for the Class of 2011, was nominated to replace Laura Cohen '09 as director of student rights and advocacy. He was approved by a unanimous vote and sworn in. Supreetha Gubbala, former senator for the Class of 2012, was unanimously confirmed as director of academic affairs, and Hogan swore in Sophia Bronshvayg '11 as the director of executive affairs. Danielle Wolfson '11 and Julia Rabkin '11 were nominated to be members of the Executive Task Force; both were confirmed by unanimous votes.

A decision was made to table the confirmation of two Executive Board appointees, Jenna Brofsky '10 and Sydney Reuben '10, who were absent from the meeting. Brofsky and Reuben are the nominees for director of community advocacy and director of communications, respectively.

According to an attendance bylaw that states that any senator who accumulates two unexcused absences will be subject to a resolution calling for censure, Senator for the Class of 2011 Alex Melman and Senator-at-Large Noam Schuster '11 were faced with automatic censure resolutions. The Senate voted in favor of the censures.

At the May 3 meeting, the Senate concluded business left over from the special session on April 29 and nominated and confirmed chairpersons for five of the six Senate committees. Abdelghafar was appointed chair of the Club Support Committee, and Philips Loh '11 will chair the Diversity Committee. Zager and Marwaha will chair the Ways and Means Committee and the Social Justice Committee, respectively. Bhuiyan will chair the Outreach Committee. The Services Committee was left without a chair until the beginning of next year because no candidates ran for the position.

The Senate also considered a bylaw amendment submitted by Rubin, which proposed that Article X, Section 4, Clause 3 of the Union bylaws be amended to say, "No potential candidate running for elected office shall promise appointed positions to individuals in exchange for political gain." The Senate voted down the amendment. The club also recognized OneVoice, a club that is focused on achieving a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict.