Georgetown University first-years will have 27 choices on their ballot for seven seats in the Georgetown University Student Association (GUSA) Senate in next week’s election.

Besides voting for seven Class of 2027 members, upperclass students will also vote four at-large members into the Senate. Four at-large candidates and 27 first-years have campaigned for the elections since Sept. 22; last year, only ten candidates ran for first-year Senate seats.

Common issues appearing on candidates’ platforms include laundry and printing costs, facilities issues and mental health awareness. Polls open Oct. 5 at 10 p.m. and will close Oct. 7 at 10 p.m.

The first-year candidates are Vincent Barahona (MSB ’27), Nicholas Baumann (CAS ’27), Nick Citarella (MSB’27), Johnny Cronin (CAS ’27), Chiara von Eschenbach (CAS ’27), Laura Fan (CAS ’27), Antonin Grosclaude-Evans (SFS ’27), Rylie Hannon (CAS’27), Kwynton “TJ” Johnson (CAS ’27), Janice Ku (COL’27), Drew Lambert (SFS’27), Han Li (CAS ’27) and Misha Maslov (CAS ’27). 

Rai Hasen Masood (CAS ’27), Tiffany Nguyen (SOH ’27), Lex Njomin (SFS ’27), Erik Olmen (MSB ’27), AJ Pisacano (MSB ’27), Jaden Probus (CAS ’27), Saahil Rao (SFS ’27), Julia Revill (SFS ’27), Nico Santiago (CAS’27), Sahil Sud (SFS ’27), Teddy Tibbs (CAS ’27), Allen Tovmasyan (SOH ’27), Arjun Venkatesh (CAS ’27) and Keatyn Wede (CAS ’27) are also running for the first-year seats.

Emily Bertanzetti (CAS ’25), Daniel Hermonstine (SFS ’26), Fahad Shahbaz (SOH ’26) and Sahar Wakilzada (SFS ’26) are running uncontested for the at-large seats.

Several candidates, including Probus, Wede, Njomin, Masood and Santiago, are including dining hall reform as part of their campaigns, with measures such as extending the opening hours to 11 p.m. at Leo J. O’Donovan Dining Hall, the only dining hall on campus. 

Njomin said the current Leo’s hours — Leo’s currently largely closes at 8 p.m. with some stations available until 10 p.m. on weekdays — means some students struggle to find food on campus late at night.

“We can start by improving accessibility in two ways: opening Leo’s for longer (I understand cost concerns, but we can start with just weekdays) and increasing staff for the Whisk morning rush, so students can get their morning coffee and get to class on time,” Njomin wrote to The Hoya. 

Candidates such as Rao, Cronin and Masood are also aiming to advocate for free printing, increased printing funds and improved availability of working printers. Printing currently costs four cents per side for black-and-white and ten cents per side for color.  

Rao said though he supports free printing, his main goal is to ensure students know where they can find a working printer.

“Fixing the printing situation at this school is front and center for my campaign,” Rao wrote to The Hoya. “Printing something here is like playing a game of Russian Roulette, except, in this case, the empty chambers of the loaded revolver represent all the printers that just don’t work. I would push the school to either develop an app that would inform students, in real-time, about which printers are functioning.”

Masood said he aims for GUSA to become more transparent to the student body as a whole — starting with himself, if he wins election.

“I will host regular open forums and town hall meetings to provide a platform for students to express their thoughts, concerns, and ideas,” Masood wrote to The Hoya. “Informed students are empowered students, and I want every Hoyas’ voice to be informed and influential.”

Many candidates are aiming to particularly appeal to certain constituencies of students, from student-athletes to the Asian American and Pacific Islander community.

Wede, who is from rural South Dakota, said she aims to give rural students more of a voice in administrative decisions. 

“I think we are a group that is routinely overlooked within administrative decisions, and I hope to help bring us into more conversations,” Wede wrote to The Hoya. “I am really focused on rural and class consciousness within our administration. This looks like initiatives to accept more forms of high school credits, rather than just AP or IB.”

Santiago, meanwhile, aims to represent student-athletes as a member of the GUSA Senate.

“Seeing that 10% of our student body is made up of student-athletes and their representation in GUSA is much lower than that, I am looking to be an advocate for my fellow student-athletes in the Class of 2027,” Santiago wrote to The Hoya. “I aim to increase the representation of student-athletes in GUSA and use my experience as a student-athlete to advocate on behalf of issues unique to our community.”

Barahona said he aims to appeal to student groups as a GUSA senator — particularly underrepresented groups.

“I hope to ensure the widest breath of ideas, feedback, collaboration, and community through GUSA by working closely with student groups throughout the year,” Barahona wrote to The Hoya. “If elected, I especially would want to focus on student affinity groups (those who have historically been underrepresented in student government) to ensure their continued vibrancy and presence at this school.”

Masood said he is excited to work with a diverse group of senators if the student body elects him.

“I’m genuinely excited about the prospect of working with every elected candidate. The way I see this is that: we’re all like ingredients in the recipe for Georgetown’s future, and what’s a great dish without a dash of diversity?” Masood wrote. 

“Our diverse backgrounds and experiences are the ingredients that will curate the most effective solutions for our community,” Masood added.