Student Government Association (SGA) announced on May 5 that Parveen Mundi and Avery Schoenhals will serve as the 2023-2024 SGA president and vice president. 

Mundi and Schoenhals won with 52.3% of the votes.

For the first time since 2017, student government elections received over 1,000 votes. This year’s total reached 1,115 votes, according to Courtney James, Director of the Office of Student Involvement and SGA advisor. Votes tripled from last year’s count.

Seven out of nine of Mundi and Schoenhals’ endorsers won their desired positions. 

“I am honored and grateful,” Mundi said about how she felt about the win. “I had no expectations coming into the election season, but Avery and I made our case and students responded with their votes.”

Schoenhals said the win made him feel incredibly humbled. He said he and Mundi put a lot of hard work into their campaign and “it’s finally paid off.” 

Schoenhals said their campaign promised to put SGA’s focus on student advocacy, financial accountability, diversity, equity, inclusion, access and campus safety. He said they ran with these initiatives because the students told them that this is what they wanted to see from SGA. 

“This entire campaign has been about students,” Schoenhals said. “We couldn’t have won this election without the support we received from our fellow students, so thank you for putting your trust in us. We won’t let you down.”

Mundi said she was glad to experience a competitive presidential race, as last year’s election was an unopposed race for the current SGA president, Kevin Holechko, and SGA vice president Magoli Garcia. She said she thanks her opponents, Sergio Godinez and Chloe Crosby, for making the election competitive and creating an empowering election.

Schoenhals thanked his opponents for bringing “some great ideas to the table” and for their consistent dedication to the DePaul community and their contributions they have made to SGA.

Godinez told The DePaulia he congratulates his opponents and wishes them the best of luck. He said they were all friends before the election and he hopes this race does not change that. 

“I recognize their passion as I hope they continue to lead with that passion,” Godinez said. “Obviously no one likes to lose, but I feel a sense of relief now that it’s all said and done. I view this as the start of a new chapter rather than an ending.”

Godinez said he does not intend to run for an SGA position in the fall because he would like to use this opportunity to explore other interests of his while also turning his focus to graduating and planning his post-graduate success. 

Aside from his plans for the future, Godinez said he was grateful to see the student turnout in comparison to previous years. Holechko said this was largely a result of Jessica Bergman, SGA Elections Coordinator, and her efforts to put up yard signs, write chalk messages around campus and hang large flyers posted on both campuses.

Many students found the outreach this year from both Bergman and the individual candidates to be more effective. 

Freshman Janelle Marchan said that she voted for Mundi and Schoenhals because of the initiatives she saw them posting about. She said they aligned with her values for transparency, accurate representation of the student population, consistent interest in campus life and campus engagement.

“I would like to [Mundi and Schoenhals] to improve the look of DePaul,” Marchan said. “I don’t think they are aware of how the large budget [cuts] and recent incidents regarding safety on campus are driving people away from DePaul. I have read from prospective students on DePaul’s Reddit worried about both of these issues and the social aspects of the university. It just doesn’t make the university look attractive to future students.”

Mundi said on-campus safety is her main concern to address.

“Because there’s a bit of time before the SRAC starts up budget talks again,” Mundi said. “I want to finalize that SGA proposal on campus safety so it can be sent to the president’s office immediately.”

But before taking office, Holechko said the winners should begin to build a support group of people who want to see their success both in SGA and in their personal lives.

“There’s really nothing more important than having a team at your side of either cabinet members or friends or university staff members who you can rely on for advice and for trying to think critically on complex issues that you’re going to have to face and manage,” Holechko said. “Having that is absolutely essential.”

While Mundi and Schoenhals finish out this current academic year, Schoenhals said he wants students to know a “more public facing” SGA is coming.

To see the list of newly elected SGA members, take a look at DePaul SGA’s election portal.