With Student Government Association (SGA) elections set for April 14-15, a group of four students, presidential candidate Ewa Pekala, vice presidential candidate Max Kastner, secretary candidate Alyssa Perez and treasurer candidate Dylan Espineli—are campaigning on the “Ewa 4 All” ticket, aiming to lead Seton Hall during the 2026-2027 academic year. The group promises to improve transparency between SGA and the student body while expanding academic resources.
Each candidate brings unique experience to the ticket, both within SGA and through other campus organizations.
Pekala, a junior biology major who currently serves as SGA treasurer,said this role helped immerse her in the organization and its work.
“I never knew much about SGA…but after becoming treasurer and becoming really immersed in it, I thought it was such a cool organization to exist,” Pekala said.
She said her experience in the role inspired her to run for president.
“I got to meet so many new people,” Pekala said. “I got to help so many people with funding and creating change in SGA through being a treasurer. That’s really what made me want to run for president.”
Perez, a sophomore biology major, said her experience as a current SGA senator has similarly shaped her perspective on the organization.
“Now, being immersed in this community, I realized that there is a lot of behind-the-scenes work,” Perez said. I was on the student life committee, so I was the vice chair of disability student services and I learned so much about DSS, Dare to Care [and] Know More.”
While Pekala and Perez bring experience within the student government, the ticket also draws on leadership roles across campus.
Kastner, a junior social and behavioral sciences major, is involved in multiple campus organizations and serves as head resident assistant (RA) of Xavier Hall.
“I’m the co-chair of the Seton Hall University Queer Student Society and I’ve met a lot of people through that,” Kastner said. “Working in the diplomacy building, running UDSA, there’s been a lot of interaction through my clubs with SGA, so I know what SGA does.”
Espineli, a junior finance and technology major, said his involvement in organizations such as the Filipino League at Seton Hall (FLASH) and Alpha Kappa Psi gives him another perspective.
“I’m external public relations for FLASH, I’m a Peer Advisor and I’m also a recruitment chair for the professional business fraternity Alpha Kappa Psi,” Espineli said.
Pekala said she assembled the team because she believed they would work well together.
“Putting all of these personalities together, I knew that they would work well, and I knew that we all shared the same passion to make change,” Pekala said.
With their combined involvement across campus, the ticket hopes to advocate for a broad range of students.
“I think we are a uniquely diverse ticket,” Perez said. “Not in the way in which we all come from different backgrounds, but I think we each have our own corner or nook of Seton Hall we know so well, so combining them together amasses a voice. We give a voice to those that are in our circle.”
Beyond representation, the ticket’s platform focuses on financial accessibility, community support and acting as a voice for SHU students. Above all, the candidates emphasize listening to the student body.
“We have our own initiatives where we want to do… but all of that stems from a whole of just hearing students’ voices because at the end of the day, that is how we make a change,” Pekala said.
“We don’t know what the issues are if we aren’t listening to them. We are here to listen. That’s the goal, ” Pekala added.
Pekala also said communication has already been a focus of her work in SGA, including initiatives she helped introduce as treasurer.
One example is a registered student organization (RSO) email list designed to improve communication between SGA and student groups.
“The reason we have the email list is [because] I brought that forward,” Pekala said. “There are over 200 people on it, and it’s our RSO, so the President and Treasurer and maybe Vice President [are] on that mailing list. We try to keep it as updated as possible…That’s really step one, that was this year, was communication.”
Looking ahead, Pekala said each member of the ticket would be able to pursue their own initiatives while working collectively on broader goals.
“We each are able to work on our own initiatives that don’t take all four of us to be all there together,” Pekala said. “It’s good because we are all able to function within our own space to make change, but then, as a whole, we’re able to come together.”
Kastner added that the team’s determination will play a role in carrying out those initiatives.
“We’re also all crazy stubborn. We’re going to want to get everything done that we can,” Kastner said. “As much as it is, yes, listening to people, but what people want, we’re going to go over time to give to them.”
According to the ticket’s Instagram, proposed initiatives include a monthly town hall, additional executive board training and guidance for organizations’ budget requests.
In addition to those initiatives, the candidates said they aim to strengthen the relationship between SGA and the student body.
“I think it’s a problem when people don’t know who we are, they don’t know what SGA is and they don’t know what SGA does for them or can do for them,” Kastner said. “I would hope people see us as their liaison to university administration and to the resources they need for themselves, their groups, their orgs to succeed on campus and beyond.”
Perez added that many students may not fully understand the scope of the SGA president’s role.
“I feel like people know of SGA or maybe they know you’re SGA president, but they don’t realize that when you’re SGA president, that you are the [student body] president of Seton Hall University,” Perez said. “It’s really important [students] know who we are.”
For Pekala, success would ultimately mean greater student engagement with the organization.
“I will measure success with a full room at a student government meeting,” she said. “We have something called a public forum, but no one really knows what that is. One of our goals is to reach so many students because during that public forum, you can voice anything you want to say.”
Ultimately, the ticket hopes to positively impact the SHU community – from organizations to commuters, residents and students who feel disconnected from campus life.
“I think just leave Seton Hall better than when I came,” Perez said. “I think we’re going to do that. I think we’re a great team and I’m so happy that we’re together. I wouldn’t see it any other way.”
Espineli said the ticket’s slogan reflects its emphasis on inclusivity.
“You can see by our slogan, ‘Ewa for All,’ we are very welcoming, we are very open to all, different cultures, orgs, student life,” Espineli said.
Echoing Espineli’s sentiment, Kastner said he hopes everyone on campus feels represented.
“I want it to be the precedent that every corner of campus is being deliberately and consciously represented,” he said. “University administration should be hearing from us and we should be hearing from everybody.”
If elected, Pekala said she hopes to leave SHU with a renewed sense of community.
“I think my legacy is that I want to leave Seton Hall a beehive,” Pekala said. “I want to leave it current, constantly buzzing and constantly changing because nothing ever works well if it's constant, if there’s no motion, if there’s no change. There has to be evolution.”
Kaelyn Blizard is the assistant editor of The Setonian’s News section. She can be reached at kaelyn.blizard@student.shu.edu.
