In the 2025 University of Massachusetts Amherst Student Government Association (SGA) presidential election, junior Hadiya Ahmad and senior Dale Leone are running for president and vice president as write-in candidates.
The pair, both currently involved in SGA, are write-in candidates, meaning voters must write both of their full names on the ballot to cast their votes.
Ahmad, an economics and legal studies double major, currently serves as the acting secretary of public relations, a position she also held in Fall 2023. Ahmad said that she loves “having the opportunity to connect with constituents on Instagram, on social media and on that one-on-one basis.”
“It’s one of my favorite positions in the SGA, and it’s the only one that I’ve held, and I have the opportunity to work with a bunch of other officers in the SGA, so [it is] definitely one of my favorite positions, and I encourage other people to apply.”
Leone serves as the current vice president to President Colin Humphries, and previously served as a senator and conduct advisor.
Leone involves himself on campus by meeting different student communities by visiting Registered Student Organizations (RSOs) events and meetings, such as Afroball, held annually by the African Students Association (ASA). He also frequents events held by different groups he has met through his peers who serve on Executive Boards around campus and participates in different intramural sporting events.
In addition to SGA, Ahmad serves on the Legal Studies Undergraduate Board under the Legal Studies department. As Legal Studies is a smaller major at UMass, she likes having the ability to meet with faculty and interview new faculty members. Additionally, she has been a part of the Pakistani Students Organization (PSO) since her freshman year and said it is “her heart and soul.”
“It’s my favorite place to connect with people of the same culture or of similar cultures, because everyone’s welcome at the end of the day with PSO,” Ahmad added.
She is also a part of the Muslim Students Organization. “They’re so amazing. They have such a welcoming community and they allow for so much religious accommodations that Muslims need on campus,” she said.
In describing why they’re running for these positions, Ahmad mentioned the “ongoing financial and RSO auditing process crisis,” citing budget cuts that RSO’s are currently facing that she wants to solve. “Running this year, I’ve really been motivated by that crisis, what happened, and kind of fixing and being more communicative with RSOs and our funding in general.”
Ahmad is currently working on a Student Activity Trust Fund (SATF) transparency initiative, “so people know where their funds are going.”
“I really want people outside of SGA to be involved and know what’s going on,” Ahmad said, citing the connections with RSOs as the SGA’s biggest power. She also hopes to be a liaison between administrators and students working to amplify student voices.
Leone added that due to his current position and experience, he is able to build off of his institutional knowledge and work with Ahmad’s “fresh perspectives” to make more progress continuing the financial reforms he carried out this term with Humphries.
“I have the experience, [Ahmad does] too. [Ahmad has] unique ideas. Let’s try to make this happen,” Leone explained.
The pair detailed some of their goals for the term, explaining that they want to continue the current administration’s work. Additionally, they want to change the RSO application process to allow organizations to apply and become active as an RSO within the same year, “Because a lot of things change. People graduate, new people come and it’s just not effective.”
They also hope to encourage RSO and ESO councils to advocate for themselves to the SGA to better have their needs met as organizations.
“The bandwidth of what SGA can do is very large, but there are certain avenues that you need to go about to achieve these things. And I think that’s what a lot of our opponents don’t realize, and I think that’s what a lot of people need to know,” Ahmad added.
They also hope to address housing justice and affordability on campus, revising the Student Code of Conduct and creating a Bill of Rights for students that would include a protest protection policy for peaceful protests on campus. They commented that the Faculty Senate is currently examining the land use policy and picket code.
“We want to make sure that those protests can continue and make sure that they happen peacefully and that students aren’t punished,” Leone said.
Dining sustainability and food waste reduction is also a primary focus of their campaign. They proposed the idea of providing to-go boxes for students to accommodate their needs and reduce overall food waste, as the current processes are “immensely unsustainable” according to Ahmad. She also commented on how these ideas will benefit student’s specific dietary or religious needs. For example, students can ensure they have meals ready during Ramadan when they break their fast. Additionally, this would cut down on the Grab n’ Go lines at dining halls, which are often long and backed up.
They also hope to strengthen their relationship with the UMass foundation to increase communication with the Board of Trustees. Leone emphasized this point and added that the pair has the “concrete experience of knowing how to navigate the systems in place to
actually deliver tangible results.” He explained that this relationship is crucial, and that they hope to work with key administrators to use the UMass foundation to connect with alumni and RSOs.
“And by no means are we underestimating our opponents. They have wonderful ideas. A lot of them have a lot of similar ideas because we all are aware of the same issues. However, the ways to go about them are very distinct,” Ahmad added. “So having that experience, not only in SGA, but in SGA leadership, is really helpful to further these endeavors.”
Ahmad commented on being able to juggle multiple endeavors at once, and how not being in the SGA last semester gave her insight into “how students are feeling on the outside.”
“Not only am I running as an experienced candidate, but I’m running with both perspectives.”
Leone added that they hope to continue initiatives from the Humphries Administration. “Starting this fall, we’re going to have a permanent Food Pantry open on campus, and that was because of me and President Humphreys commitment and meeting with administrators and being in all these long meetings to make that happen.”
He added that they intend to keep finding ways “we can move forward so that the student body can see a tangible result that will make their lives better.”
The pair commented on their ability to work together and challenge one another while fighting for the same end goal to “achieve the best outcome for everybody on campus,” Ahmad said.
They also added that as the Academic Integrity Policy is being debated, they want to ensure that the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) isn’t “outright banned,” because it can be a “tool in the classroom,” Leone said.
“We want voters to vote, and we want voters to know what they’re voting for. So I encourage people to, you know, read up on all the candidates and read everybody’s platforms and be involved in everybody’s Instagram and ask questions,” Ahmad said.
“We want to make tangible progress on as many issues as possible,” Leone added.
Abby Joyce can be reached at [email protected]
