CLEAN Slate has been declared the winner of the 2023 SGA elections, making Charlie Zhang, a third-year sociology and international business combined major, and Matty Coleman, a third-year psychology major, the president- and vice president-elects for the 2023-2024 academic year, respectively.

“I never thought I would get to stand here with my best friend Matty in front of you all,” Zhang said in his acceptance speech at a Monday night SGA meeting. “I can’t express enough how grateful and excited we are to accept our positions as student body president and executive vice president for the next academic year.”

CLEAN Slate captured 2,959 votes, or 52.47%, in their bid against the Ramnath-Falco campaign, which garnered 2,510, or 44.51% of the votes. This year was the first where students could write in their choices for the positions, which constituted 3.01% of votes. 

This election’s voter participation rate also outperformed last year’s, with 25.72% of the undergraduate body casting a vote during the seven-day election period. In the 2022 election cycle, 25.95% of the student body voted in 14 days, said Casey Buttke, the campaign elections chair. 

All four referenda on the ballot also passed, solidifying the student body’s support for halting fossil fuel investments, restructuring the SafeZone app, introducing gym subsidies to reduce gym overcrowding on campus and making Swipe2Care meal donations automatic. None of the referenda received above 9% of dissenting votes. 

Both slates thanked each other for a smooth election process and commended students and organizers for voting and being active in the election process. 

“We are looking forward to shouldering our mutual responsibility of working to represent the voices of our fellow students and address their concerns across all of Northeastern’s campuses,” Coleman said. “We look forward to empowering you all to do just the same, in whatever capacity you are able. This organization is yours, the students, not ours, and we are ecstatic to help you steer it.”