As enrollment opens for next semester and the pressure of finals looms overhead, Student Senate elections for the 2026-2027 school year are in full swing. 

The upcoming elections will allow voters to choose senators to represent their individual schools, as well as officer positions for president, vice president, treasurer and secretary. 

Sophomore Brody Krolczyk, a biology major, has been keeping up with the campaigns through his friends that are involved in the elections, social media, and the student organizations that he is a part of. He says that transparency, addressing student concerns and increasing school spirit have been common themes that he’s witnessed across the candidates’ campaigns. 

“I appreciate their transparency,” Krolczyk said. “I know with this election we’re actually going to be able to see the results in a way we’ve never been able to do before, and I appreciate that.”

School spirit and involvement with SMU’s athletics programs are some of the biggest issues that Krolczyk hopes to see addressed by the incoming officers.

“I know with this new era that SMU is heading into, we want to see more involvement with the city of Dallas as a whole. We want to see that when we think of Dallas, we want to think of SMU and vice versa,” Krolczyk said. “I love being a Mustang and I’m very proud of that fact. And I’d love to see that sentiment shared across the student body.”


 Many of the senator and officer campaigns have been centered around addressing common student concerns such as the parking, the cost of printing and the recent elimination of December graduation. 

Freshman Alma Roshan-Zamir has seen printing as a common theme throughout the campaigns she’s been following.

“Which is very exciting for me because I think that’s a huge issue that should be addressed,” Roshan-Zamir said.

With the university’s strategic plan in the works, officer and senator campaigns have been focused on providing representation to the student body when it comes to the school’s administration. For Roshan-Zamir, increasing student representation is the biggest concern when it comes to these upcoming elections. 

“I know that we have a new president now so there’s a lot of concern about students being properly represented and our traditions being kept in place,” Roshan-Zamir said. “So that’s a pretty big thing, to just make sure that we have very strong representation, to make sure all the students’ voices are heard.”

The recent elimination of December graduation ceremonies has been a common topic across student conversations, with debates swirling around whether student concerns were taken into consideration with this decision. 

“I feel like that’s something that we really have to address when going into these new positions and for next year,” freshman Lauren Turner said. “I feel like it’s important that our opinions are being heard, whether or not it’s our decision to make.” 

This year’s officer elections are different from past years as three of the four positions are running unopposed, with only the secretary race being contested. 

Roshan-Zamir understands that some people felt discouraged from running since many of the candidates have been actively involved in senate for a long time. She appreciates that the candidates running unopposed are still putting effort into their campaigns.  

“Which I think goes a long way in showing that these people really care about what they’re doing, even though they’re running unopposed and technically don’t have to do anything about it,” Roshan-Zamir said.

To Krolczyk, the lack of contest in the senate officer races is not a concern. 

“I think we have that idea of that’s how political races should be just as a whole in the United States, but I’m also hopeful that…because they’re not as focused on running the most competitive platform, they can get started early on some of the initiatives they’re hopefully installing in the next year,” Krolczyk said. “But I definitely can understand the concerns of some students feeling like there’s no political race to it.”

Roshan-Zamir is also not overly concerned with this either. 

“I do think that having…a lot of interest in running for these positions is pretty important, but I also am not too worried just because I know the individuals and I know that they do a great job, and you can see the effort that they’re putting in,” Roshan-Zamir said. 

As voting begins today, below is a guide for each of the candidates running for student officer positions, as well as a list of the candidates running for the different senator positions. 

Candidate for Student Body President:

Jazmin Darjean

Darjean is a rising senior majoring in psychology and business management with a minor in Spanish. The three central pillars of Darjean’s campaign are connecting the SMU campus with the broader Dallas community, ensuring student representation in administrative leadership and encouraging Mustang pride. Darjean feels that the biggest issue facing the SMU community is the student body feeling a lack of representation in administrative decisions; she hopes to address this by offering more opportunities for the entire student population to bring their grievances to the administration. Darjean plans to implement this through increased tabling and town halls, mirroring the Student Affairs strategic plan. Darjean currently serves as vice president for the 2025-2026 Student Senate. 

Candidate for Student Body Vice President: 

Owen Bartosh

Bartosh is a rising junior studying marketing and public policy with a minor in music. Bartosh’s biggest campaign focuses — what he calls the “Bartosh Blueprint” — addressing campus parking issues, creating Student Senate scholarships, enhancing school spirit and supporting student organizations. Bartosh believes that the biggest issue the SMU community is currently facing is maintaining its student body identity through the administrative changes that are taking place. He plans to implement this by identifying SMU’s core traditions and bringing the student voice to the university’s new strategic plan. Bartosh currently serves as a Cox senator. 

Candidate for Student Body Treasurer: 

Ryland Davis

Davis is a rising junior studying finance and history. As treasurer, Davis’s focus is on making it easier for student organizations to access funding from Student Senate. She plans to support this by creating a feedback form for students to address concerns to the finance committee, increasing the accountability, and the creation of an advisory aspect of the finance committee for a smoother process for students to access funding. Davis sees parking issues as the biggest issue facing the SMU campus; she hopes the senate can address this by getting as much student input as possible. She plans to promote open dialogue by creating relationships with student organizations on campus. Davis currently serves as a Cox senator. 

Candidates for Student Body Secretary: 

Kellen Phair

Phair is a rising junior majoring in finance. As secretary, Phair would be responsible for supporting efficiency and execution within the Student Senate. Phair hopes to do this by allowing students to offer recommendations for revisions to the code of conduct, while also  supporting the initiatives of the new vice president and president. Phair sees shared governance with the new administration as one of the biggest issues facing students, and says that by increasing efficiency, the senate will be able to pass more legislation and initiatives to provide increased power to the students. Phair currently serves as a pre-major senator. 

Keaton Steen

Steen is a rising sophomore double majoring in political science and economics. Steen’s campaign is centered around increasing transparency and organization in Student Senate, collaborating with directors in senate and providing funding for student printing. To Steen, the biggest issue facing the student body is how SMU navigates its growth moving forward. He plans to address this issue by communicating what happens in the senate with the student body in order to help students understand what decisions are being made. Steen sees the biggest responsibility of the office as enabling students to have a voice in the senate. Steen currently serves as a first-year senator. 

Candidates for Cox Senator:

Andrew Askins 

Rene Benitez 

David Chege 

Charlie Coleman 

Daniel Corso 

Alberto Escobedo 

Andrew Fiser 

Brady Nicholson 

Ian Ricci 

Will Swann 

Caroline Waters 

Candidates for Lyle Senator: 

Noah Brada 

Arle Casillas 

Daniella Ineza 

Cricket Tatone 

Amanda Wachuku 

Candidates for Dedman Senator:

Ava Brown 

Hudson Caswell 

Katerina Chrysanthakopoulos 

Carter Cumiskey 

Miranda Fairley 

Hunter Fields 

Willem Hale 

Gavin Hill 

Tait Love 

Faith Lungu 

Matthew McLelland 

Christian Natale

Candidates for Meadows Senator:

Ethan Montes 

Alberto Morotti 

Lauren Rader 

Candidates for Simmons Senator:

Jason Ky 

Ryan Sears 

Candidates for Pre-Major Senator:

Oliver Burke 

Alexi Felton 

Toral Jena 

Rhett Maner 

Luke Peterson

Luke Sommers

DJ Wilson

Candidate for Student Athlete Senator:

Joe Umhofer

Candidates for Queer Senator: 

Nick Darvischi 

Lizbeth Rayo 

Candidate for First-Generation Senator: 

Daniel Gonzalez 

Candidate for Asian Pacific Islander Senator:

Byoung Lee 

Students voting for African American Senator have the option to write in a candidate. There is currently no candidate running for this position.

Voting is open on SMU 360 from today until Wednesday at noon.