Five months after Binghamton University Council Representative elect Irene Cui stepped down from her position, the Student Association Congress’ Elections and Judiciary Committee is holding a special election to fill the position.

Four candidates qualified to run after the petition period closed on August 27: Muhammad Bhatti, a sophomore majoring in philosophy, politics and law; Jobial Alex, a fifth-year history PhD student; Nina Thomas, a junior majoring in political science and economics; and Hatim Husainy, a junior majoring in political science and sustainable communities.

The election is being held today. Voting opened at 9 a.m. and will close at 9 a.m. on Wednesday.

Alex has been the graduate student liaison for a year, acting as the main point of contact between the faculty and graduate students, as well as being on the graduate council for the last three years, acting as the sole student representative for Harpur College in the graduate student council. Alex has also been part of the Graduate History Society executive board for four years as well as a GSO senator for two years.

Alex says that as both an international and a graduate student, he is uniquely positioned to bridge any miscommunication between different groups on campus.

“It seems like there is a gap between the administration and the student body, or the faculty and the student body, between grads and undergrads, between domestic and international students,” said Alex. “So there is basically gaps between all these different groups, sections of students, and I feel like I’ll be able to bridge the gap between the administration and the student body, and I hope I’ll be able to address the concerns of students.”

Bhatti was an off-campus representative for the SA Congress last year. Bhatti is also the president of SOAR, which stands for Supporting Ongoing Academics and Resilience and is a student-run mental health project.

Bhatti explained that his platform is ultimately based on student concerns and consists of five main tenets.

“It’s housing without surprises, be safe and be alert, a seat at the table, expansion with a plan, and mental health, not mental hunt,” Bhatti said in an interview with Pipe Dream. “And I came across these five platforms, not necessarily through just talking to students, but also talking to the administration, talking to different officials outside of the university scope, and just kind of getting really a fact-finding mission to really find what it was that students were really concerned about.”

Bhatti said that student-led initiatives also shaped his work as an SA Congress representative, referencing the resolution he authored last year to urge administrators to place QR codes by water stations around campus, allowing users to report “red or expired filter indicators.”

“I think students deserve to have to have a leader that will make their voice heard, right?” Bhatti said. “I think for a long time students have been forced to kind of just take what they are given. I think that they deserve to have someone that’s willing to continuously attack the problems that they experience day to day from a variety of angles.”

Husainy told Pipe Dream he is running for BU Council Representative “because the University Student Association needs a change.”

“Here, I use the word ‘Student Association’ not just to refer to the official student government, but to our student leaders more broadly, we need to be standing up to administration and speaking the truth loudly in a way that many institutions on campus are failing right now,” he continued Huisany.

Husainy explained that his roles as treasurer of the Young Democratic Socialists of America, writer for Happy Medium and as an SA Congress Representative will be valuable as BUCR because he is experienced in “struggling against administration on campus.”

Husainy’s platform has four main goals. He wants to make the East Gym free for students, switch the dining halls from a pay-per-item system to a swipe system and end the University’s contract with Flock Safety, a controversial license plate reader provider, which is accused of working with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. He also wants to build a stronger student government on campus.

“Students should vote for me because if you’re tired of a BUCR who does a lot of talking and not much doing, I’m the person for you,” Husainy told Pipe Dream.

Thomas is part of the BU Club Kickline team, involved with Moot Court Club and was part of the Financial Committee of the SA. She said her on-campus involvement has given her the “perspective of kind of just an average student” and that she has heard from students from other campus organizations.

“Students feel comfortable to talk to me about things like that, so I think my ability to listen is just going to be the biggest thing because I don’t want to tell students about what they should care about,” Thomas told Pipe Dream.

“I want to hear about what they do care about, and then bring that to the administration and find feasible solutions to all of those.”

Thomas’ platform is made up of four “pillars”: listen first, build community, make student life better and represent everyone. Thomas suggested holding office hours for students and student leaders to meet and discuss any issues, as well as creating a campus mentorship program for academic and social guidance. She also proposed working with administrative leaders to create more parking spots based on student complaints on everyday experiences.

“I want to have my BU Council Committee represent at least one student from each of the diverse organizations on campus,” Thomas said, “Whether that’s transfer students, grad students, all the cultural orgs, Greek life, club sports, all of that, athletics.”

The four candidates debated on September 3. They were asked questions regarding their ability to represent the entire student body and accomplish the goals outlined in their platforms.

“I’ll make sure that I listen to everyone, not just people who are closer to me, not just people in my department, or like not just grad students,” Alex said at the debate.

Husainy explained that he is uniquely situated to represent both graduate and undergraduate students as he is currently pursuing a 4+1 program.

“I literally am both an undergrad and graduate student in a unique position to understand what both communities are going through and able to find shared things that we can come together around,” Husainy said.

Husainy and Bhatti disagreed over their ultimate priority on campus during the debate. While Bhatti argued safety, including the presence of ICE and sexual assault on campus are his priorities, Husainy argued centering democracy on campus should be the priority of BUCR. Alex argued his priority will be the rights of student workers.

Election results will be certified on September 9.

“At the end of the day, we all want what’s best for the students,” Thomas said. “So working together, we can definitely get some real work done.”