14 seats were filled in the second round of Student Union elections on April 4, according to an April 5 email from Student Union Secretary Shuying Liu ’16.

Current North Quad Senator Hannah Brown ’19 and current Class of 2019 Senator Kate Kesselman ’19 won the two Class of 2019 Senator seats, with Brown garnering 142 votes (77 percent of the vote) and Kesselman winning 129 votes (70 percent), according to a document provided to the Justice by Liu. 24 voters chose the “abstain” option, while seven other wrote in alternative candidates, including performance artist and politician Vermin Supreme.

In an email to the Justice, Kesselman wrote that she plans to continue the work she has done in organizing the Midnight Buffet and Turkey Shuttles and forming a good working relationship with Sodexo. “I plan on continuing to work with Sodexo to make the dinning [sic] halls the best they can be and to have more special event meals over the course of next year. I also hope to continue the tradition of Turkey Shuttles and Midnight Buffett [sic] and make them as convenient, entertaining and enjoyable as possible,” she wrote, adding that she hope to make the Allocations Board “work toward becoming more organized and fair by trying to make policies clearer and by having more face to face contact with clubs, so that clubs feel that Aboard is more approachable and helpful.”

In the race for the two Class of 2018 Senator seats, Christian Nunez ’18 and current Village Quad Senator Abhishek Kulkarni ’18 edged out Zhiqing (Gloria) Zheng ’18 with 204 (74 percent) and 87 votes (32 percent), respectively.

Nunez previously ran for the Student Union presidency, losing in a narrow election to current Student Union Vice President David Herbstritt ’17.

Current Ziv Quad Senator Gwenyth Fraser ’17 and current Class of 2017 Senator Ryan Tracy ’17 were elected Class of 2017 Senators, with Fraser winning 135 votes (69 percent) and Tracy garnering 92 votes (47 percent) over opponent Brittany Finney’s ’17 74 votes.

For the two Senator at Large seats, Shaquan McDowell ’18 and current Class of 2019 Senator Nathan Greess ’19 edged out opponents Ethan Seletsky ’17 and Ben Margolin ’17, with 425 (54 percent) and 294 votes (38 percent), respectively.

In an email to the Justice, McDowell wrote that his decision to run “stems from a desire to create a more cohesive community, where this idea of ‘social justice’ that Brandeis constantly markets itself on, actually finds a place to flourish. We've arrived at a time where , in the mist [sic] of recent social movements, our community stands at an integral moment in our progression. … I've always has [sic] a passion for creating a world where we as people can actually sit down, converse, and come to consensus as to what we need to do.”

He added that he hopes to create spaces where “those of conflicting stances can engage in discussion, without condemnation, in order to arrive at a place of understanding,” and that his ultimate goal is to advocate on behalf of the student body. “As expected, I have a commitment to ending racial injustice, promotion of gender equality, and my passion for making the voices of youth heard and it is true that each of these will play an integral role in my advocacy in the union. … It is important that we emphasize and restructure how our union is operating and connecting with our student body. Without this, none of what we are trying to accomplish, is a possibility,” he added, citing a need for greater communication and transparency of Student Union and University operations.

Lian Chen ’19 won the race for Racial Minority Senator with 224 votes, or 77 percent of the vote. In an interview with the Justice, Chen stated that she decided to run because she wanted to serve the student body and “listen to their voices.”

She added that she had initially wanted to run for office in the fall but wished to get a better sense of the community before acting as a representative.

Looking ahead toward next year, Chen noted that she wishes to focus on reaching out to the community and giving a voice to minorities and other underserved groups. “I like the feeling that everyone is equal and friendly in this [campus] atmosphere,” she said, adding that she would like to better incorporate minority voices in the Student Union. “There are some voices [that are] not really reached.”

She said that she hopes to make student resources more widely available through the Internet, also explaining, “I just want people to come to me and be comfortable and we can make this community an even warmer place.”

Finally, for the five open Student Union Judiciary Associate Justice seats, Lilly Hecht ’18, Becky Israel ’17, Eric Danowski ’18, Stephanie Sjoblom ’17 and Brooke Granovsky ’18 won. Hecht won 414 votes, Israel won 327, 371 votes went to Danowski, Sjoblom got 366 and Granovsky won 390 votes.

In an email to the Justice, Granovsky wrote that her goals for next year focus primarily on outreach and judicial protocol. On her wish to connect with the student body, she wrote: “An organization that mitigates club disputes is only useful if the clubs in question know the organization exists. I want to publicize the Judiciary's office hours, and reach out to club leaders, to expand the Brandeis community's engagement with the Union's Judicial branch.”

She added that she believes it is important to “clarify what qualifies as a conflict of interest, and in what situations/through what process members of the branch should recuse themselves.”

“I plan to use my term to ensure that the Judiciary stays true to the Union's constitution in all its rulings, and that it holds the Union and the University's clubs to this same standard,” she concluded.

The class of 2018 had the largest voter turnout by a margin of 86 voters, with 290 members of the class of 2018 voting, as compared to the class of 2017’s 204 voters, the class of 2019’s 195 voters and the class of 2016’s 145 voters.

—Brooke Granovsky '18 is a staff writer in the Arts section.