The University Board of Elections announced results of the student body elections Friday evening. Fourth-year College student Ceci Cain was elected Student Council president with 73.4 of the vote. Students also voted to pass the historic Honor referenda, which changes the single sanction for committing an Honor offense from expulsion to a two-semester leave of absence, marking the largest change ever made to the Honor system since its inception in the 1840s.
The rest of Cain’s ticket was elected in unopposed races — third-year College students Jaden Evans and Riley Reynolds will serve as vice president for administration and vice president for organizations, respectively.
“I am honored to be serving in this position and to have the opportunity to keep doing work for my communities in the next year,” Cain said. “I’m also humbled by all of the work that has come before me by Black and working-class people at this University.”
Cain’s opponent, third-year College student David Alari, gathered 1,171 votes, or 26.6 percent. The campaigning period was not without controversy — the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People at U.Va. released a letter alleging that Cain was “inherently misleading” Black students Tuesday morning. Student leaders came to Cain’s defense and Cain responded to the claims later that day in a statement.
The highest turnout was in the Honor referendum — 6,010 students or 23.8 percent voted on the referendum. 17.4 percent of students voted in this Student Council presidential election, compared to 41.6 percent in 2021. In 2020, only 10.03 percent of students voted.
Max Bresticker, chair of the University Board of Elections and a third-year College student, commented on students’ participation in this election cycle as a possible sign of optimism for student self-governance.
“This year's elections were incredibly successful,” Bresticker said in an email statement to The Cavalier Daily. “In this cycle, 28.5 percent of students cast at least one vote which constitutes one of the highest turnout percentages UBE has ever recorded. When considering that last year's turnout was also remarkably high, these most recent turnout percentages hopefully point towards a student body that is becoming increasingly involved and interested in student self-governance.”
Referenda
Students voted to pass the amendment to the Honor Committee’s constitution with 4,811 votes — 80.05 percent — in favor.
The referendum was authored and submitted to the UBE by third-year Law student Rep. Christopher Benos, who was unable to pass the referenda internally throughout the Committee. As such, Benos and a working group comprised of Honor Committee representatives and Cain gathered more than 1,600 signatures in order to get the proposal on the ballot this spring.
Since the Honor Committee’s adoption of a formal constitution in 1977, there have been nearly a dozen attempts to alter the constitution, none of which have achieved majority support among student voters. The Honor Committee has operated on a single-sanction system with the punishment of expulsion since its adoption of a formal constitution in 1977.
The ethics of expulsion have long been debated — some favor a more rehabilitative sanction process, while others uphold expulsion as a just punishment for those who violate the community of trust. Historically, the Honor system has also disproportionately affected students of color and international students.
Last year, the Honor Committee did not bring any referenda to ballot, citing low turnout rates — the last election when an Honor referendum was put to a student vote was in 2019 and the proposal barely surpassed the required 10 percent threshold. Voter turnout was merely 10.51 percent, per results.
“This vote is truly historic and shows that together, anything is possible,” Benos wrote in an email statement to The Cavalier Daily. “It proves that institutions can change for the better to address concerns about bias, racism, unaccountability and inequity. It confirms that every person is worthy of redemption and a second chance. It is a victory for students, for restorative justice, and for democracy everywhere.”
A referendum to increase the number of University Judiciary Committee representatives for the College of Arts and Sciences from three to five also passed with 82.32 percent of the vote in favor. The referendum would retain two seats for each of the other 12 undergraduate and graduate schools.
The amendment will allow the College to have five seats due its large size proportional to the other schools. The College currently has 12,706 undergraduate and graduate students, with the next largest school, The School of Engineering, holding 4,137.
Honor Committee representatives
Graduate students Tim Dodson and Kelly O’Meara were elected as Honor representatives for the School of Architecture. Dodson previously served as Honor representative this year.
Graduate student Shunkai Ding was elected Honor representative for the Graduate College of Arts and Sciences.
Graduate student Lucian Mirra was re-elected Honor representative for the Graduate School of Education.
Second-year student Kevin Lin was elected Honor representative for the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.
No candidates ran to represent the Undergraduate School of Education, the School of Medicine or the School of Continuing and Professional Studies.
First-year student Amelia Houghton was elected Honor representative for the School of Nursing.
Third-year students Connor Eads and Jayna Mallon were elected Honor representatives for the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy.
Third-year students Jane Lyons and John Sun were elected Honor representatives for the McIntire School of Commerce.
First-year students Bowen Hiett and Daniel Elliott were elected Honor representatives for the School of Law.
Second-year student Hamza Aziz, third-year students Hannah Shapiro, Gabrielle Bray and Ellie Wilkie and fourth-year Sullivan McDowell were elected Honor representatives for the College of Arts and Sciences.
University Judiciary representatives
Third-year College students Peyton Hamlett and Nabeel Raza and first-year College student Lisa Kopelnik were elected Judiciary representatives for the College of Arts and Sciences.
Representative positions for the School of Continuing and Professional Studies, Graduate School of Education, School of Medicine, Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, McIntire School of Commerce and Graduate School of Arts and Sciences remain vacant.
Third-year student Sidney Matlock was elected Judiciary representative for the School of Education.
Third-year Nursing student Sarah Dalton was elected Judiciary representative for the School of Nursing.
First-year student Phoebe Sam was elected Judiciary representative for the School of Law.
Third-year student Natalie Zuppas and second-year student Porter Brown were elected Judiciary representatives for the School of Architecture.
Student Council Representative Body
Third-year students Gabriela Hernandez, Amanda Chok and Nickolaus Cabrera, second-year students Lillian Rojas, Violette Cadet, Tyler Busch, Ryan Conn, Qauis Youssef and first-year students Princess Olubuse-Omisore, Katie Cruz, Andrea Masiakos and Taylor Wilson were elected as undergraduate representatives for the College of Arts and Sciences.
Fourth-year student Shunkai Ding was elected as graduate representative for the College of Arts and Sciences.
Third-year student Cooper Scher was elected undergraduate representative for the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.
Third-year student Aayushma Bastola was elected undergraduate representative for the Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy.
Representative positions for the undergraduate McIntire School of Commerce representative, School of Continuing and Professional Studies representative, School of Education representative and Darden School of Business representative remain vacant.
Class Councils
Third-year Commerce student Sophia Liao was elected president of Fourth Year Trustees in a contested race against third-year College student Anisa Mohamed. Liao was elected with 64.3 percent of the vote along with her running mate third-year Batten student Lara Arif.
Liao and Arif are the current president and vice president of the Third Year Council, respectively.
Third-year College student Kyle Woodson was elected as president of Third Year Council in a contested race. Third-year College student Karina Reynolds was elected vice president of Third Year Council in a contested race.
Second-year Engineering student Christopher Joseph was elected as president of Second Year Council in a contested race. Second-year student James Edwards was elected as vice president of Second Year Council in a contested race.
Full results
Student Council President: Ceci Cain
Student Council Vice President for Administration: Jaden Evans
Student Council Vice President for Organizations: Riley Reynolds
Student Council Arts & Sciences Undergraduate Representatives: Amanda Chok, Andrea Masiakos, Gabriela Hernandez, Katie Cruz, Lillian Rojas, Nickolaus Cabrera, Princess Olubuse-Omisore, Qauis Youssef, Ryan Conn, Taylor Wilson, Tyler Busch and Violette Cadet
Student Council Arts & Sciences Graduate Representative: Shunkai Ding
Student Council McIntire Undergraduate Representative: vacant
Student Council Continuing and Professional Studies Undergraduate Representative: vacant
Student Council Education Undergraduate Representative: vacant
Student Council Engineering Undergraduate Representatives: Cooper Scher
Batten Undergraduate Student Council Representative: Aayushma Bastola
Student Council Darden Representative: vacant
Second Year Council
Second Year Council President: Christopher Joseph
Second Year Council Vice President: James Edwards
Third Year Council
Third Year Council President: Kyle Woodson
Third Year Council Vice President: Karina Reynolds
Fourth Year Trustees
Fourth Year Trustees President: Sophia Liao
Fourth Year Trustees Vice President: Lara Arif
Honor Committee Representatives
Honor College of Arts & Sciences Representatives: Hamza Aziz, Hannah Shapiro, Gabrielle Bray, Sullivan McDowell and Ellie Wilkie
Honor Graduate School of Education Representative: Lucian Mirra
Honor McIntire Representatives: Jane Lyons and John Sun
Honor Architecture Representative: Tim Dodson Kelly O’Meara
Honor Law Representatives: Daniel Elliott and Robert McLeod
Honor Nursing Representative: vacant
Honor Continuing and Professional Studies Representative: vacant
Honor Batten Representative: Jayna Mallon
Honor Graduate Engineering Representative: Kevin Lin
Honor Undergraduate Engineering Representative: vacant
Honor Darden Representative: vacant
University Judiciary Committee
Judiciary College of Arts & Sciences Representatives: Peyton Hamlett and Lisa Kopelnik
Judiciary Architecture Representative: Natalie Zuppas and Porter Brown
Judiciary Engineering Representatives: vacant
Judiciary Undergraduate Education Representative: Sidney Matlock
Judiciary Law Representative: Phoebe Sam and Casey Schmidt
Judiciary Nursing Representatives: vacant
Judiciary Continuing and Professional Studies Representatives: vacant
Judiciary Batten Representative: vacant
Judiciary Commerce Representative: vacant
Judiciary Darden Representatives: vacant
Architecture School Council
Architecture School Council President: Thomas Ryan
Architecture School Council Vice President: O’Shen Burgess
Architecture School Council Secretary: Emma Gallaugher
Architecture School Council Treasurer: Emma Sontag
College Council
College Council President: vacant
College Council Vice President: Carol Cho
College Council Secretary: Alex Suddman
College Council Treasurer: vacant
Batten Undergraduate Council
Batten Undergraduate Council President: Ahana Rosha
Batten Undergraduate Council Director of Communications: vacant
Batten Undergraduate Council Treasurer: vacant
Batten Graduate Council
Batten Graduate Council President: vacant
Batten Graduate Council Secretary: vacant
Batten Graduate Council Treasurer: vacant
Batten Graduate Council Special Events Chair: vacant
Batten Graduate Council Community Engagement Chair: vacant
Commerce Council
Commerce Council President: vacant
Commerce Council Vice President: vacant
Commerce Council Treasurer: vacant
Education Council
Education Council President: vacant
Education Council Treasurer: vacant
Education Council Vice President & Secretary: vacant
Education Council Professional Development and Scholarship Chair: vacant
Engineering Student Council
Engineering Student Council President: Isaac Heath
Engineering Student Council Vice President: Allison Kenney
Engineering Student Council Secretary: Marina Awad
Engineering Student Council Treasurer: Swathi Shekharan
Engineering Student Council Fourth Year Board President: Anne Felipe
Nursing Student Council
Nursing Student Council President: Zoya Zahid
Nursing Student Council Vice President: vacant
Nursing Student Council Secretary: Anna Linehan
Nursing Council Diversity and Inclusion Chair: Nakayla Figgins
Nursing Student Council Treasurer: Kelly Murray
Nursing Student Council Social Committee Chair: vacant
EDITOR’S NOTE: Representative McDowell’s name has been updated for accuracy.
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