Central Michigan University's Student Government Association held five debates for its 2025 Executive Board Debate, allowing students to ask candidates how they will improve the university on behalf of students, if elected.

The debate began with the presidential debate and was followed by the treasurer, judicial and senate debate. This was the last chance candidates had to address SGA during its meeting before voting begins next week.

Candidates for Treasurer

There are three candidates who are running for the association Treasurer position: SGA’s Governmental Affairs Committee Chair Pratham Agarwal, Junior Lauren Bonomo and Junior Carnell Poindexter.

Treasurers are in charge of the Student Budget Allocation Committee (SBAC), which manages a budget of $80,000 to help pay for any projects and conference allocation requests from registered student organizations (RSO).

The candidates opened their debate by discussing the experience they have had handling a budget for an organization:

Bonomo said she was the treasurer of her high school’s National Honor Society and was in charge of maintaining and allocating the budget when needed.
Agarwal is the treasurer for the Indian Student Association, which hosts events such as Diwali Night. He said he has helped raise funds and manage event budgets for the association.
Poindexter is the founder of the non-profit organization, Inner City Inclusion, which was originally an RSO at CMU. According to its website, the organization works with Detroit Public Schools to help students get connected to higher education.

Transparency was one subject that all three candidates agreed should be prioritized in SGA’s budget.

Poindexter said he hopes to send the budget directly with RSOs that are involved with SGA, and inform RSOs who aren’t involved about the resources the association can help provide.

“A lot of people don’t know about (SBAC) funding,” he said. “They don’t know they can get funding through student government, and I feel like that’s kind of crazy. I think one of the things I want to do is reach out to them.”

Bonomo said she would want to mention the budget during every SGA meeting, so members are aware of how the money is being used.

“We don’t have that big of a budget and so I want that transparency to all the students,” she said. “To be able to see where that budget is going and also be able to provide ... their insight as to where they think more funding should go.”

Agarwal said he would post the budget on social media so more students can see it. Currently, the budget is under SGA’s Engage Central page, but Agarwal believes it could be more accessible to students.

Associate Justice Candidates

Graduate student Jose Medina and junior Akshaya Baitinti are running for one of the newest positions in SGA, associate justice. When there is a court hearing, justices are the ones who review and vote on the final decision in the case.

When asked by sophomore Gretchen Furst how they would handle a case that conflicts with a previous SGA court ruling, Baitinti said she would always refer back to the association constitution and bylaws.

“I would start by going through the constitution and bylaws, and make an initiative to amend the amendment,” she said.

Medina said that justices need to listen to every voice when trying to understand a case.

“We want to live through the bylaws and constitution,” he said. “But most importantly, in our roles, we must hear all the voices and make sure we all come to a decision with all the associate justices."

Baitinti said that when it comes to ensuring fairness, she would create a sense of accountability and ensure voices are heard as well.

“I would do it by fostering a culture of accountability and trust,” Baitinti said. “Ensure the judicial branch not only holds the value of trust and equality, but also empowers students to engage and make them confident that their voice is really heard."

Medina is running with the Acheampong/House presidential ticket. According to the SGA’s bylaws, associate justices must be, “non-partisan, non-biased arbiters of matters before the Supreme Court.”

Senior Christian Tony asked Medina how he would ensure he remains non-partisan when working on a case from the executive branch. Medina said that his affiliation with a presidential ticket will not interfere with his decisions if elected.

“Even though I'm running with a ticket, I still have to do what I have to do within my role as associate justice," he said. “That means holding up the bylaws, constitution … unbiasedly.”

Senators

Freshmen Suhani Bam Thakuri and Hisham Danoun were the only candidates who spoke during the meeting who weren’t opposing each other in this election. Both are running under alongside incumbent President Carolina Hernandez Ruiz and Vice President Aksha Barot, and both used the debate to discuss why they wish to be elected into the SGA senate.

Both candidates said their goals are centralized on meeting and engaging with students.

Bam Thakuri is running to represent CMU’s College of Science and Engineering, and said if she were elected, she would ensure students are heard by the Senate.

“I also want to represent every student and share their ideas or any concerns in the meeting,” she said. “And actually make effective ideas and plans that we can implement in our colleges and bring a change.”

Danoun, who is running for senator of the College of Health Professions, said he, “will be planning to transfer the voice of the student, collaborate with them and just inform them about what’s going on (around) campus."

Next steps

Voting for SGA’s next executive board will begin at 8 a.m. Monday, April 7 through Engage Central, and will stop at 5 p.m Friday, April 11. Elected officials will be announced by CMU’s Student Activities and Involvement after votes are counted.

The Inaugural Reception for SGA’s newly elected board will be held at 7 p.m. on April 28. Officials have not announced where the reception will take place.

SGA holds debates for judicial, treasurer, senate candidates

Related Stories

Share: