The Georgetown University Student Association (GUSA) Senate swore in seven newly elected members, presiding officers and committee chairs at its April 16 meeting.
The Senate unanimously reelected incumbent Manahal Fazal (SFS ’24) to serve as speaker and unanimously elected Joshua Bernard-Pearl (SFS ’25), the chair of the Policy and Advocacy Committee (PAC), as the vice speaker. Meriam Ahmad (CAS ’26) and Dylan Davis (CAS ’26) were elected the new chair and vice chair of PAC, while the Senate elected Rhea Iyer (CAS ’26) and Dua Mobin (CAS ’25) chair and vice chair of the Finance and Appropriations Committee (FinApp).
Incumbent FinApp chair John DiPierri (SFS ’25) became the chair of the Senate’s Ethics and Oversight Committee (E&O), which enforces GUSA’s bylaws and ensures that elected GUSA members fulfill their duties, with George Currie (CAS ’26) as E&O vice chair.
The Senate also unanimously verified the results of the April 13-15 elections, during which six juniors and six sophomores standing for election gained Senate seats. In the contested first-year elections, incumbent first-year senators Hilary Orozco (CAS ’26) and Andrew Wong (SFS ’26) lost their current positions.
GUSA President Camber Vincent (SFS ’24) also swore in new members of the Senate: first-years Ethan Henshaw (CAS ’26) and Yasin Khan (SFS ’26); sophomores Mobin, George LeMieux (CAS ’25) and Noriko O’Shea (SFS ’25); and juniors Jeff Mueller (CAS ’24) and Mason Leath (CAS ’24).
Ahmad, who ran in a contested internal election for PAC chair against Davis and incumbent PAC vice chair Maria Victoria Almeida Vazquez (SFS ’25), said her record passing policy proved she has the experience needed to chair the committee.
“What I’ve done in the Senate so far has been passing resolutions in support of lowering costs of laundry, passing resolutions for, again, putting more lights in Red Square and to fix the Epi’s kiosks,” Ahmad said at the meeting. “This is really what I’m passionate about, and I want to make sure that GUSA is actually seen as doing something.”
Davis said he aims to further connect the GUSA Senate with the executive and its committees as vice chair of PAC.
“I have a passion to connect the Senate with the executive,” Davis said at the meeting. “I know facilitation, know how to delegate. And I know we’re only as strong as each of our members. So I want to empower everybody. And I want everybody to be working together.”
Iyer defeated Saatvik Sunkavalli (SFS ’25) for the FinApp chair election, while Mobin defeated Mueller and Currie for FinApp vice chair. The Senate will elect the other members of FinApp, the committee that appropriates student activity fee funding between club boards, at its next meeting April 30.
Iyer said her prior experience serving as FinApp’s liaison to the Campus Ministry Student Forum, the advisory board that provides funding to religious student associations, will allow her to effectively lead the committee.
“I’ve learned the ins and outs of FinApp, I’ve learned about advocating for student organizations,” Iyer said at the meeting. “Moving forward, I want to make sure we have a transparent and accountable process.”
Mobin said her experience as the vice president of Georgetown Emergency Response Medical Service (GERMS) and a member of the College of Arts and Sciences Dean’s Office taskforce for diversity, equity and inclusion will allow her to fight for equity issues as the vice chair of FinApp.
“I have great potential to continue this work since I’ve already worked with administration on such issues in the past,” Mobin said at the meeting. “So many of the diversity, equity and inclusion issues on campus are financially related.”
