College junior Ria Ellendula and Wharton sophomore Michelle Chen will serve as the Undergraduate Assembly’s next president and vice president.
The Nominations and Elections Committee announced the results on Wednesday, April 10 at 8:56 p.m. after voting closed on Tuesday, April 9 at 11:59 p.m. Ellendula was elected president by a vote of 830 to 694 over College junior Hannah Liu, and Chen was elected vice president by a vote of 876 to 603 over College junior Mackenzie Sleeman. This spring’s election also decided leaders for the 2025, 2026, and 2027 Class Boards.
The total amount of votes cast in the presidential election was 1,524, an increase from last year's total of 1,280.
Nominations and Elections Committee Chair Yousef Elyoussef told The Daily Pennsylvanian that the voter turnout was the highest since before the COVID-19 pandemic. He said that approximately 24% of Penn’s campus voted or opened the ballot, a 5% increase from last year’s tally of 19% — a fact which he described as “awesome.”
Ellendula, the president-elect, and Chen, the vice-president-elect, ran on a platform — ”An Intentional Penn” — structured around diversity and equity, academic initiatives, inclusion, and student wellness.
During the campaign, Ellendula, a former DP staffer, spoke about her love of advocacy. She added that her platform aims to bring “high impact solutions” to students. In an interview with the DP, she expressed excitement in being elected as president, citing her positive experience in the UA so far.
“I feel like being involved in student government has been such a fulfilling experience and has been the channel through which I can pursue my love for advocacy,” Ellendula said. “I'm really honored and blessed to have been elected as president, and hope that I can do as much justice to the position as I can in the upcoming year.”
Ellendula also expressed hope that her initiatives as president would help build community and improve students' experiences.
"I hope that we can continue to foster community within the UA and that we can continue to encourage people to run for student government," Ellendula said. "And also help the student body feel the impact of the initiatives that we put forward and make sure that students know that there are people who are advocating for them.”
Chen also discussed her background during the campaign, as she comes from rural North Carolina, and spotlighted her leadership role in a project with Wellness at Penn to introduce a vending machine on campus to dispense over-the-counter medications.
College junior Amaan Omer, Wharton sophomore Vedika Jawa, and Wharton first year Steven Li — who is also a staffer for the DP — were respectively elected as the presidents of the 2025, 2026, and 2027 Class Boards. Omer won by a vote of 236 to 205 over Engineering junior Ben Sailors, and Jawa and Li were both unopposed.
All positions for the 2025 and 2026 Class Board were uncontested other than the election for College Class Chair for the 2026 Class Board. College sophomore Hita Mohan was elected with 139 votes to College sophomore Hannah Kim's 121 votes.
The election’s voting period and results were both delayed by a day, which Elyoussef attributed to “a little glitch in the system.” He added that issues with the Penn Student Government website made no difference in the outcome of the election.
“I think the website itself does need a bit of work. It's an older system, back when Penn InTouch was around,” Elyoussef said. “And so I think the NEC — along with the rest of the University — needs to work to update the system. Just so we don't have to run into these roadblocks.”
Ellendula, in contrast, told the DP that the change in the voting period “probably” impacted the election cycle, but added that she was “not sure to what extent or to what degree."
“You always have to be prepared that sometimes things can go wrong with technology, or you’re faced with issues that are not really able to be controlled by any one person,” Ellendula said. “But I do want to say that I'm so appreciative to everybody in the nominations and elections committee, or NEC, for being communicated throughout the entire process and helping candidates who might have been confused with what the updated timelines were.”
Elyoussef also suggested that this election was unique due to the State of the School event, which was held on April 4.
“We required all candidates to go to the State of the School, which was the event hosted by the NEC along with the rest of the Penn Student Government,” Elyoussef said. “Having candidates go to that meeting really shows them what all of student government is about, and really tells them what's going on around campus and within student government.”
Last week, the NEC hosted two debates — one on April 3 and another on April 7 in the McNeil Building — where the UA presidential and vice presidential candidates explained their platforms and plans for the roles.
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