Student Outreach Chair elected after two tied votes and a live Q&A tiebreaker

Lehigh’s Student Senate elected a new Student Outreach chair after two tied votes that led to a live Q&A with the candidates, Simone Levy, ‘29, and Dev Gupta, ‘30. 

Edward Grinnan ‘29, previous Student Outreach chair, stepped down from his position which required the Senate to hold an election. The Brown and White reached out to Grinnan for comment on Nov. 10, but he hasn’t responded at this time.

Smith decided due to time constraints and importance of the election, the election for the new committee chair would be at the start of the meeting. 

Smith said there are four parts to the election process: 

1. Public nominations, where members of senate can either self nominate or nominate who they think should run
2. A four minute speech from the candidates 
3. A moderated caucus where the candidates will exit the room in order for members to deliberate
4. A vote 

Gupta was nominated by Bauer and Levy self-nominated. 

Levy, a preexisting member of the Student Outreach Committee, gave her speech first. 

In her speech, Levy said she was qualified to chair due to her previous experience within the committee as well as previous experience in other organizations both at Lehigh and in high school. 

Levy said she knows the reputation Senate gets within the student body and one of her main goals is to cultivate a positive relationship between the two parties. 

“Ever since joining (the) Senate I have found a lot of passion for it and it’s something that I want to commit my time to,” she said. 

Gupta, who currently serves on the Facilities and Services Committee said in his speech that outreach is the first thing the Senate needs to focus on. He said he has experience through his time in the Senate and additional outside work. 

He said he knows how to connect with people and bring a group together, using his popularity on Yik Yak and Instagram as an example. 

Once both speeches were completed, as stated in the bylaws, the candidates stepped outside in order for the moderated caucus to begin. 

During the time allotted for discussion, both executive and committee members discussed who they thought would be a better fit for the role. For further deliberation, Smith enacted pro and con speeches for each candidate, allowing members to speak in support or opposition to the candidates. 

This discussion remains private to the Senate members and wasn’t communicated to the candidates, as per their bylaws. 

All of Senate voted via Google Form, including the candidates themselves, after the moderated caucus concluded. 

For a candidate to win, they must obtain 51% of the vote. In both the first and second ballot, neither candidate won. 

Smith said in his entire time being on the Senate, since the fall semester of 2023, there has never been a tied vote. 

He said there were two ways to proceed, either move the election to the next meeting to allow for more deliberation or host a live Q&A. 

For the first time in his presidency, Smith ran a live Q&A for the candidates. Gupta and Levy stood in the center of the room waiting to answer questions from their peers. 

“The reason we (had) a live Q&A is because having a chair of student outreach as soon as we can is essential to the mission of this organization,” Smith said. 

There were three rounds of questions asked, starting with Senate Vice President Mariana Roldán, ‘28, who wanted to hear the candidates ideas and plans for events they will host as chair. 

Gupta said he wanted to host a Battle of the Bands near the UC flagpole to create community engagement. Levy said she also has been discussing Battle of the Bands and wants to create an event during finals week that would include free food and therapy dogs. 

Bauer asked a more personal question, inquiring what student outreach meant to the candidates. Both Gupta and Levy said they want to work on the relationship between​ the Senate and the student body. 

Elias Lowery ‘29, Academic Affairs Chair, asked both candidates what tangible actions they have done on the Student Senate. 

Gupta said he’s been working on lowering laundry costs for Lehigh students and been working on expanding the reach of dining dollars to more Bethlehem businesses. Levy said she worked on the monthly newsletter, but acknowledges that there’s much more she wants to do in her future in the Senate. 

Smith asked the final question of the night: “In one sentence, explain your priority as the chair.”

Levy said she wanted to bridge the gap between the Senate and the student body. 

“My priority is to bridge the gap between the student senate and the student body,” Levy said. 

“My priority is people,” Gupta said. 

In the third vote and final vote, Gupta won the position of Student Outreach Chair. 

“I loved coming in and talking to Lehigh students,” Gupta said. “This was kind of the natural next step for me, was going into outreach.” 

After the final election, there were five minutes for courtesy of the floor where members can share events happening on campus and other announcements. 

To conclude the meeting, Smith banged the gavel. 

“We are looking to turn a new leaf on how we approach outreach with the student body,” Smith said. “I congratulate Dev on his chairship and I think he will do an excellent job of connecting the students. He has a history of making an impact and doing so in a way that gets people’s attention.” 

Other agenda items 

Each executive and committee representative gave a report of their week’s work, along with future meetings and plans, including Club Affairs Chair Raquel Romer, ‘27, Student Outreach, Lowrey, Facilities and Services Chair Beza Geberesilassie, ‘27 and Student Rights Chair Jazeera Avila, ‘29. 

Smith reviewed course options that are available for members of Senate, including a one credit Political Science class (POLS 295) on student governance. 

Avery Eskin ‘28, Senate Treasurer, reviewed the allocation bills that clubs requested from the Senate. As a whole, the Senate voted on the allocations and Eskin provided a brief explanation of why or why not the senate approved or denied the requests.

Senate Parliamentarian, Heidi Bauer ‘28, took to the podium to tackle the revisions made to the organization’s bylaws. 

Divided into 19 sections, the bylaws cover procedures within the Senate and their individual communities. During this time, Bauer reviewed the edits made per section, opening the floor to questions and suggestions. After every section, the senate voted on the amendments. 

Senate voted on edits to the first 10 sections: 

• Article I. Definitions of Terms 
• Article II. General Procedure
• Article III. Attendance
• Article IV. Constituency
• Article V. Elections and AppointmentsArticle VI Duties of Executive Officers
• Article VII. Student Outreach Committee
• Article VIII. Student Rights Committee
• Article IX. Faculties and Services 
• Article X. Academic Affairs 

All amendments to the articles were passed unanimously by the Senate.

The next Student Senate meeting will be on Nov. 17.