The Senate convened on Oct. 6, where they began with the Senate hearing from two different clubs about name changes. Additionally, the Senate voted on director seat confirmations.

The first club to appear before the Senate was BC3, which sought permission to change its name to the Chinese Student Association. This club promotes Chinese culture and brings events to the Brandeis community. They aim to spread Chinese culture through food and music and host events like the Mid-Autumn Festival and Chinese New Year Festival. Club members wanted to change their name to become more recognizable as a Chinese culture club. The Senate passed their name change.

The second club to present was Brandeis Animajors Club For All, by Mathew Chu ’27, the President and founder of the club. He founded the club last year to grow a community for people interested in anime. Chu wants to change the club’s name to Brandeis Anime Club for All using the same acronym to make the type of club clearer. The Senate passed the name change.

The Student Union President Rani Balakrishna ’25 presented her candidates for director seats to the Senate as a part of the Student Union. According to the constitution, Balakrishna needs confirmation from the directors and Chief of Staff. She also advocates for two new positions - Director of Accessibility and Director of Sustainability. The Director of Accessibility would work to make the campus more accessible to students and the Director of Sustainability would work toward making the campus more sustainable in many ways. Both of these positions were passed.

Vickie Hsieh ’25, the Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, was the first to get confirmed. In her speech, she talked about her experience as a freshman representative, president for two years, and now senior advisor for the Taiwanese Student Association. Hsieh wants to create signs and maps for the Gender and Sexuality Center so students know where each office is and help them find a community. She has also met with other centers, including the office of DEI at Brandeis. Hsieh was confirmed.

Fairooz Abida ’27 was nominated for the Director of Health and Wellness. In her speech, she discussed her goal of working with the Brandeis Health Center, Brandeis Counseling Center, Prevention Advocacy and Resource Center, and Student Accessibility Services in the future. She wants to maintain health and wellness at Brandeis, especially regarding mental health. Abida was confirmed.

Grace Toscano ’27 was nominated for the director of Accessibility. In her speech, she discussed how she wanted to recreate the Sunflower Lanyard initiative. The global intuitive was first introduced to Brandeis last year by former Senator Ria Escamilla-Gil ‘27 who was also co-chair of this Social Justice Committee. The initiative raises awareness of people with non-visible disabilities. Toscano also wants to take action on elevator inspections because she noticed a lot of codes are outdated. Additionally, she hopes to make the Intercultural Center at Brandeis more accessible, hear students’ concerns, and consider better tour routes for Brandeis that are mobile. She was confirmed.

Nayeli Naranjo ’28 was nominated for the Director of Public Relations. She talked about her time working with non-governmental organizations and her experience as a mentor and coach for campers. She is interested in graphic design and wants to work on more social media content to connect with the Brandeis community. Naranjo was confirmed.

Allie Ladjeva ’27 was nominated for the Chief of Staff position. She discussed her involvement in many clubs on campus and her leadership experience. She was a Global Fellow at Brandeis this past fall semester. She talked about her passion for leadership and communications and how she is looking forward to helping with logistics and planning events with executive board members. Ladjeva was confirmed.

Vivienne Scott ’26 was nominated for the Director of Sustainability. Last year, she was the chair of the sustainability committee on the Senate and worked closely with the Environmental Studies department to put on events. She previously worked to run the Turkey Shuttles around Thanksgiving. Scott wants to work on Brandeis’s energy consumption, specifically lighting and heat usage. Scott was confirmed.

The Student Union meeting ended with discussing how they plan to run office hours this semester.