After four days of voting last week, Cornell has released the results of the 2023 Student Assembly elections. With 15.6% turnout (an increase of about 5% from last year), student interest in the SA is still anemic. Two races have not been called, pending the adjudication of a judicial challenge.
The three-way race for the presidency has been called for Pedro Da Silveira ‘25. Da Silveira—a biomedical engineering major—campaigned on restoring legitimacy to the SA, in addition to certain concrete changes. Da Silveira won 51.8% of the final vote.
Da Silveira has served on the Student Assembly for two years, first as a freshman representative, then as a representative for the College of Engineering and Vice President of Internal Operations. The upcoming year is a so-called “byline year,” in which the SA will decide how to allocate more than $3 million of student money collected through the Student Activities Fee.
Da Silveira campaigned on using his experience from previous SA terms to “eradicate wasteful spending.” Last week, then candidate Da Silveira told the Review: “As one of the most experienced Student Assembly Representatives and the only candidate that was present during the last SAF allocation cycle, I am uniquely prepared to navigate the complexities” of reallocating funding.
Da Silveira contested the office with Patrick Kuehl ‘24 and Sanvi Bhardwaj ‘24. All three candidates focused on declining student interest in the SA during their campaigns. Bhardwaj was eliminated in the first round of tabulation, setting up an instant runoff between Kuehl and Da Silveira.
Da Silveira has served on the SA through many controversies, including the trigger warning debacle of this semester. Da Silveira endorsed the concept of SA Resolution 31, but disputed its implementation.
With turnout higher than last year, but still anemic, Da Silveira will face an uphill battle to restore legitimacy to an institution ignored by many students.
In the Executive Vice President race, Claire Ting ‘25 was elected over Rocco DeLorenzo ‘24 by a margin of 19 votes– 1,084 to 1,065. Ting has been the subject of national media attention following her proposal for mandating trigger warnings earlier this semester. DeLorenzo had been head of finance for the SA during this past year.
Ting has served on the SA for the past year as a representative for the school of Industrial and Labor Relations. The incoming EVP told the Review that her primary focus will be “ensur[ing] wellness and safety through lasting infrastructure for our community.”
This is a breaking news story and will be updated once more details become available.
