The Student Government Association’s presidential and vice presidential candidates are campaigning on expanded student services and stronger diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, but many of their proposals overlook existing policies and the limits of the office.
A majority of candidates relied on vague language or minimally detailed proposals in their platforms, making it difficult for The Hatchet to discern the true scope of their ideas or how they intend to implement them. While many emphasized collaboration with officials and the importance of greater transparency and student awareness, few outlined concrete strategies for engaging University leaders and students or for translating their priorities into actionable outcomes.
The Hatchet reviewed and fact-checked four out of the five candidates’ outlined platform points for misleading, inaccurate or unclear information to provide additional context as students prepare to vote. Alfred Lewis Jr., a presidential candidate, did not share his platform with The Hatchet. Here’s what we found:
Candidates for president
Liz Stoddard: The junior majoring in political science with a minor in religion is vice president of the SGA and a former senator. She announced her campaign on March 22 and shared her platform with The Hatchet on April 6.
Stoddard’s platform contains multiple policy categories, including academics, career development, student life, student organizations and student health and transparency and governance. Most of Stoddard’s policies outline clear rationales for their enactment and her ultimate goals, but she acknowledges many would require cooperation from University officials.
Platform Point: Stoddard wants to work to “expand access” to the School of Business’ F. David Fowler Career Center’s coordinators program — which pairs underclassmen with paid upperclassmen mentors in the business school to help with resumes and cover letters — to students from all schools.
Check: The coordinator program — which officials paused during the fall semester due to budget cuts but reinstated this semester — is currently housed in GWSB’s career center, with business students serving as coordinators, designed to help students looking to go into GWSB-related career fields. To expand the program, Stoddard would have to work with each school’s career center or the University-wide Center for Career Services to create a similar program, since the Fowler coordinators are currently exclusive to GWSB students. The University’s career service center provides professional staff who can help with coaching on resumes, cover letters, interview prep and more but does not offer peer-to-peer mentoring.
Platform Point: Stoddard pledged to reinstate Transgender Awareness Week and the Transgender Day of Remembrance Vigil as part of an effort to increase the Multicultural Student Services Center’s resources and programming for LGBTQ+ students.
Check: The Transgender and Non-binary Students of GW continued to host their Transgender Awareness Week programming this academic year from Nov. 13 to 20, despite the MSSC not advertising the 2025 programming on their website as it has previously done. The programming included three events hosted at the MSSC, including the Transgender Day of Remembrance Vigil. The MSSC also commemorated the day of remembrance on its Instagram page at the time.
MJ Childs: The sophomore studying creative writing and marketing is the Black Student Union’s vice president of marketing. He announced his campaign on March 16 and shared his platform with The Hatchet on April 5.
Childs’ platform is split into 13 sections, listing points on dining, DEI, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and international students, campus safety and accessibility, housing, artificial intelligence, mental health, student health center, budget cuts, communication, code of conduct, SGA and miscellaneous.
The platform includes ideas but does not explain how exactly Childs plans to implement the changes, as seen in his platform point of working with the Faculty Senate to prevent further staff layoffs and departmental budget cuts and in his point of pushing officials “to vow to protect” students amid increasing ICE enforcement in D.C.
Platform Point: Childs said he would create an optional post-FixIt survey for students after maintenance workers complete a request.
Check: GW Facilities Planning, Construction and Management already sends out an optional post-FixIt survey for students to complete.
Platform Point: Childs pledged to work with University donors to expand the “emergency support fund” to every school, so students facing financial hardship or emergencies are supported by GW.
Clarification: The Office of Student Financial Assistance offers emergency funding for all students, ranging up to $600 per semester for undergraduate students’ personal expenses and up to $2,600 for graduate students’ personal expenses as well as up to $1,000 for tuition-related charges, but not every school has a school-specific fund. The Division for Student Affairs also offers a Student Assistance Fund for assistance outside of tuition-related needs.
Candidates for vice president
Aicha Sy: The sophomore studying political science is an SGA senator representing the Columbian College of Arts & Sciences. She announced her candidacy March 18 and shared her platform with The Hatchet on April 5.
Sy’s platform focused on student organizations, student life, dining, tuition, graduate student life, programming and SGA reform. Like the other candidates, Sy did not outline steps to implement many of her goals or the specific officials she would work with to achieve them.
Platform Point: Sy is “aiming” to get the Mount Vernon Express running again at its “usual schedule” in response to the projected increase in tuition for the 2026-27 academic year, after officials slashed their frequency by 50 percent this year,
Clarification: Sy would have to work with University administration to do so, and it is not clear if they would respond to student pressure and revert the schedule. The University scaled back Vex services amid University-wide fiscal challenges, including a 3 percent budget reduction for FY2026. Officials said the schedule changes were implemented due to additional seating in the new shuttles this academic year.
Platform Point: Sy said she would “restore” weekend dining hall hours for locations in the University Student Center and District House.
Clarification: Officials shut down weekend dining hours at District House and the USC in the fall, pointing to lower foot traffic. The SGA does not have the power to change dining hall hours. Sy would need to work with officials and GW Dining to implement any changes to dining hours.
Cheydon Naleimaile-Evangelista: The sophomore studying political communication is an SGA senator representing CCAS. He announced his campaign on March 27 and shared his platform with The Hatchet on April 5.
For each policy on Naleimaile-Evangelista’s platform, he outlines his reasoning and how he plans to execute it, but many proposals would require buy-in from officials. While some policies are more detailed in how he plans to pursue them, like his effort to work with the Faculty Senate to make course syllabi available to students before the first week of the semester through joint resolutions, others, like his plans to streamline Disability Support Services and dining accommodations, are not.
Platform Point: Naleimaile-Evangelista wants to work with Follett, the operator of the GW Campus Store, to accept GWorld as a payment method, allowing students to pay for GW swag and course materials at the store using dining dollars.
Clarification: The campus store already accepts GWorld Campus Cash as a form of payment for all items but does not accept dining dollars. Campus Cash is not included in students’ cost of attendance and must be loaded to their card through an app.
Platform Point: Naleimaile-Evangelista said he wants to partner with the Title IX Office to host an “annual event” with the SGA in Kogan Plaza, featuring student and community organizations and giving students an opportunity to hear from them and engage in open dialogue.
Check: While not in Kogan Plaza, the SGA and the Title IX Office launched the Denim Day event last spring to raise awareness and provide access to resources for sexual assault prevention in Square 80. Over 200 students attended the event, which featured participation from 22 student groups, as a way to inform the community about the resources available to them regarding sexual assault and harassment. The SGA, Title IX Office and other student organizations scheduled Denim Day for April 29 this year.
