To the Georgetown University student body who has become disillusioned with the student government executive, the opportunity for meaningful action is on the ballot this year.
This week, students will cast their ballots for the Georgetown University Student Association (GUSA) executive. Who wins this election will have an important job — to advocate for all students and represent their needs to the administration.
Though multiple tickets have proven records of action within GUSA and policy platforms that demonstrate a clear understanding of the issues, the Editorial Board urges students to vote for Darius Wagner (CAS ’27) and Nazgol Missaghi (CAS ’28) due to their plans to meaningfully improve student life and dedication to championing student voices beyond campus.
The Wagner/Missaghi policy platform has three main priorities: continue to improve the student experience, further transparency between GUSA and university administrators and stand up for student values both on and off campus.
To strike a balance between academic and social lives, students must be able to celebrate and do so without the undue stress of superfluous restrictions. The Wagner/Missaghi ticket vows to reduce restrictions on parties and reform meal plan policies as part of a broader effort to improve student quality of life on campus.
As the current GUSA vice president, Wagner coordinated with the university to relax planned measures — such as wristband distribution and townhouse policing — for Georgetown Day and Homecoming. Wagner’s efforts to limit restrictions during these celebrations give us confidence in a continued effort to promote an enjoyable student experience.
Wagner’s track record as vice president indicates his ability to represent students to the administration and promote accountability from the university. Through hosting town halls and establishing a dining committee, Wagner encouraged GUSA to foster students’ understanding of initiatives and communication with the university.
Now, the Wagner/Missaghi ticket plans to support student conversations with the provost’s office, the dining team and campus facilities groups. Promoting student dialogue with the university administration as such — especially on matters like construction and university contracts — is essential to ensuring Georgetown is a campus dedicated to the voices and values of its students.
As for defending student voices, Wagner said off-campus concerns would be a priority under their executive.
“We think it’s very important to have a student administration that is prepared to stand up to admin to say, ‘We’re going to stand on protecting our diversity programs, protecting our academic freedom and not capitulating to the Trump administration,’” Wagner told The Hoya in an early October interview.
The Editorial Board and the Georgetown student body believe deeply in the importance of the diversity of thought and speech that President Donald Trump has so ardently attacked. The Wagner/Missaghi ticket has afforded special priority to defending Georgetown and its community from these attacks. Student opposition to continued attacks on academic freedom must begin with the GUSA executive.
While the Editorial Board believes the Wagner/Missaghi will best address student concerns, other executive tickets show faithful consideration of how to effectuate change in GUSA.
The Saahil Rao (SFS ’27) and Zadie Weaver (CAS ’28) campaign similarly published an extensive 13-page policy proposal plan. Many of their goals overlap with the Wagner/Missaghi campaign, something to be expected with two expansive policy platforms. If anything, this overlap indicates both campaigns are acutely aware of the student body’s myriad concerns.
The Rao/Weaver ticket’s primary priorities include increasing club funding, reducing restrictions on partying and ending restrictions on first-year recruitment for clubs in the McDonough Student Advisory Board. The Editorial Board believes each of these policies would meaningfully improve student life on campus.
In addition to publishing their intended policies, the Rao/Weaver campaign followed up on the platform with a series of implementation memos detailing how they plan to achieve their goals. Each memo includes an in-depth explanation of each policy’s rationale, as well as the relevant actors and implementation plan of each policy. The Editorial Board appreciates the Rao/Weaver campaign’s clear knowledge of affecting change within university policy and their comprehensive plans to do so.
Rao said his and Weaver’s experience working with administration would allow them to enact quick reforms.
“We’re obviously the current speaker and vice speaker of the senate, we’ve been in that position since right before last summer,” Rao told The Hoya in an early October interview. “So we’re ready to hit the ground running on day one.”
However, both the Wagner/Missaghi and Rao/Weaver campaigns fell victim to the perennial GUSA tradition of large policy platforms that promise sweeping and ambitious reforms, few of which fall within GUSA’s official powers. Still, the Editorial Board recognizes that either campaign will diligently work toward realizing these policy plans.
During an interview with The Hoya, Rao confirmed his membership in the Second Stewards Society.
Manuel Miranda (SFS ’82) founded the society in 1982 as an all-male service fraternity dedicated to preserving Georgetown’s traditions through anonymous service. Pressure from the university, however, forced the Stewards to disband in 1988 after its existence was publicized and widely condemned for excluding women and minorities. In subsequent years, students have revived the society in a number of iterations, including the Second and Third Stewards Society organizations.
Miranda has been actively involved in the Second Stewards Society and — according to the organization’s tax returns for 2023, the most recently available year — has acted as its secretary.
In 1991, Miranda petitioned the Vatican to strip Georgetown of its Catholic status, in part because the university recognized then-GU Choice, a pro-choice organization. In response to this pressure, Georgetown revoked the club’s recognition, blocking the now-reformed H*yas for Choice from accessing university benefits or funding.
The Second Stewards have also served on the board of and donated to the Georgetown Academy — an intermittently operated campus publication — which has in the past regurgitated homophobic rhetoric and compared conservative life on campus to the Holocaust. These are just the activities we know about, as the Stewards largely commit themselves to “anonymous” service.
Today, the Second Stewards Society appears to function as both an anonymous student group and a nonprofit organization called The Stewards Charitable Trust (Second), which donates to on-campus causes that support its mission.
Rao defended his membership in the organization despite its problematic history, saying the organization is apolitical and does not conflict with his views.
“I am — and always have been — affirmatively pro-choice, an ally to the LGBTQ+ community, and an advocate for marginalized groups on campus,” Rao wrote to The Hoya. “My record of service speaks clearly to those values.”
Let us be clear: The Second Stewards do donate to a number of honorable causes as well, including Habitat for Humanity and student scholarships. The group’s connections to far-right political advocacy, however, are too problematic for the Editorial Board to overlook. Punishing H*yas for Choice and promoting homophobia stand in stark contrast to the values of the Editorial Board and should be antithetical to all Hoyas.
If nothing else, the Editorial Board is concerned with any student government official’s connection to an organization with this problematic history.
The Luke Hughes (SFS ’27) and Mikey Williams (SFS ’28) ticket provided few policy proposals, and those that the campaign did announce were largely abstract and reliant on elementary generalizations. While commendable for their passion, the Editorial Board has little confidence that their administration would be able to follow through on specific goals, especially given their relative lack of GUSA experience compared to their opponents.
Ultimately, students should celebrate the option of multiple qualified tickets in this election. The Editorial Board believes that both the Wagner/Missaghi and the Rao/Weaver tickets would be effective GUSA executives.
The decision is one of what students want the executives to emphasize.
If students believe in a focused approach that confines its activity to the bounds of the Hilltop, they should vote for Rao/Weaver. Rao’s association with the Second Stewards does not negate the merits of a thorough and specific policy platform. In addition, the extensive GUSA experience that both Rao and Weaver share give us little doubt in their ability to actively work toward achieving their goals.
Beyond the Hilltop, however, attacks on higher education by the Trump administration continue to threaten students’ academic lives and professional pursuits. The university needs a student government that will not only resist the threats to our communities but also resist threats at all. The Rao/Weaver ticket has stressed their desire to keep GUSA’s scope to campus — Wagner/Missaghi has made it clear they will not.
What happens beyond the Hilltop affects us all. From student loan reform to international student restrictions, the Trump administration’s policies have fundamentally made it more difficult to be a student. As an organization created to represent the interests of our students, GUSA must do whatever it can to look out for students and protect them amid the tumult of an increasingly far-right government seeking to attack every facet of life.
The Editorial Board believes GUSA has a responsibility to champion student voices beyond the Hilltop. For those who believe the same, the choice is obvious: On Oct. 22-24, vote Wagner/Missaghi for GUSA president and vice president.
The Hoya’s Editorial Board is composed of six students and is chaired by the senior opinion editors. Editorials reflect only the beliefs of a majority of the board and are not representative of The Hoya or any individual member of the board.