The University of Maryland’s Student Government Association will be holding an election for student representatives and executive board, as well as voting on referendums, this Tuesday through Thursday. Any student has the opportunity to vote for student representatives and an executive board consisting of the student body president, executive vice president and vice president of financial affairs. The ballot referendums allow students to vote for or against urging the university to divest from companies that commit human rights violations and for health center fees. 

Our College Park

Our College Park is centered around enhancing the student experience at College Park, according to Shuli Frenkel, a junior criminology and criminal justice major running for executive vice president. “Our platform is based around students and making sure that students have the support that they need on this campus in terms of affordability, basic needs support and the sense of community belonging,” said Frenkel. “The platform is all built with input from other students.” 

The platform prioritizes improving economic affordability on campus, such as reducing hidden fees like lab and clicker costs, which often create barriers for students pursuing required courses in many science-related majors. 

“A sense of belonging is one of the crises that our campus is experiencing,” said Frenkel. Recognizing the decline in student engagement and sense of belonging, the platform supports a funding model which cuts money proportionally from student organizations, rather than taking the same amount from every club where budgets vary. It also seeks to make campus feel more inclusive by increasing access to meeting and practice spaces for student organizations, such as dance groups or skate communities that struggle due to a lack of designated areas. Additional efforts include improving career fairs, expanding late-night dining for students involved in evening activities or working late shifts and increasing transparency in the university’s budget process. 

Strive UMD

StriveUMD’s platform focuses on amplifying the student voice, protecting student rights, improving support for student organizations and incorporating student’s opinions into SGA, according to presidential candidate Graham Firosz, a sophomore computer engineering and public policy student. A key priority is increasing student engagement with SGA by making processes more transparent and accessible, ensuring students are aware of their ability to attend meetings and SGA’s advocacy networks, according to Firosz. With $2.8 million in student fees allocated annually to student organizations, student legal aid, club sports and other resources, the platform emphasizes SGA’s responsibility to manage this funding equitably and hold recipients accountable. 

StriveUMD also critiques the lack of communication with the student body, pointing to an unfulfilled bylaw requirement to release newsletters. They propose creating a comprehensive, widely distributed newsletter featuring initiatives and SGA updates with the student body. With over 100 ideas to implement in office, StriveUMD has the “most comprehensive platform of all the tickets,” said Ben Nathan, a sophomore computer science major running for representative of the college of mathematical and natural sciences. 

Other Slates

JusticeUMD is also running to elect several student representatives. Mitzpeh reached out for an interview but the group declined to comment.

Referendums

Along with the legislative and executive representatives that students can vote on, there are two referendums that students have the opportunity to vote for or against. The first, titled “University Health Center Fee,” is a measure to provide “essential medical and wellness services to University of Maryland students.” This would require students to pay a mandatory health center fee to replace service charges and co-pays for specific University Health Center services. The second referendum is titled “University Divestment,” an act “calling for a referendum on Whether the Student Body Should Demand that the University Divest from Companies That Facilitate Violations of International Law and Human Rights.” 

A representative from Terps Vote No, who asked to remain anonymous, defined the movement as “an umbrella for any student who is questioning whether divestment is the right move or to explore why divestment isn’t necessarily the correct choice.” According to the representative, the group’s goal is to show voters that divestment is not a black and white issue, but extremely complex. Before making a decision on voting yes or no for this referendum, Terps Vote No encourages students to educate themselves on both sides of the issue. 

Divestment is “a movement that is, one, rooted in antisemitism, but, two, something that would negatively impact UMD students and UMD as a whole because it would potentially limit job opportunities, limit mentorship programs, and take away a lot of funding from our university, and that’s all besides the fact that divestment has been proven to not be effective at actually helping the Palestinian people,” according to the representative.

Starting on Tuesday at 9:00 a.m., students can access voting at umdsga.com/elections.