{"id":213109,"date":"2026-03-31T15:13:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-31T15:13:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/213109\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T15:13:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T15:13:08","slug":"sg-validates-spring-2026-election-results-reviews-title-revisions-and-approves-special-requests","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/213109\/","title":{"rendered":"SG validates Spring 2026 election results, reviews title revisions, and approves special requests"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0The University of North Florida Student Government (SG) validated the Spring 2026 election results<\/a> on Friday, officially naming Talon Party candidates Hazel Joseph and Tommy Mazzella as student body president and vice president. Senators also debated a series of constitutional revisions related to student events and the auditing of registered student organizations (RSOs).<\/p>\n

Spinnaker also spoke to current SG Senators and UNF students who expressed concern that the newly elected Senate does not accurately represent the student body.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Validation of results\u00a0<\/p>\n

Hazel Joseph and Tommy Mazzella from the Talon Party won the UNF Student Government Spring 2026 presidential election as student body president and vice president.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Supervisor of Elections Asvidhi Ladumor read the unofficial results aloud during the Senate meeting, followed by Senate discussion.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Senator Hunter Hayes, who ran for the vice president seat in the opposing<\/a> SAM party, offered his congratulations to the incoming administration.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are all here in the Student Government to do what\u2019s best for the students,\u201d said Hayes. \u201cAt the end of the day, I believe that Hazel Joseph and Tommy Mazzella will do what\u2019s right for the student body.\u201d<\/p>\n

After the discussion, the senate validated the results with 11 votes. Nine senators abstained because they were on the ballot.<\/p>\n

Student Opinions<\/p>\n

After SG released its unofficial election results, some students expressed concern that the newly elected Senate does not accurately represent the student body.<\/p>\n

In the results, 20 of the student senators elected were from the SAM party \u2014 Hailey Elias, University and Student Affairs (USA) Chair Shipton Macdonald, and Troy Montinola. <\/p>\n

Before the election results were validated, two SAM members spoke with Spinnaker about their concerns regarding representation and party legitimacy in SG.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m concerned with the people elected, because there\u2019s an overwhelming amount of Greek life,\u201d said Macdonald.<\/p>\n

Though both Elias and Macdonald are involved in Greek Life at UNF, they said students from international, religious, and non-Greek Life backgrounds should also have a voice in the Senate.<\/p>\n

\u201cI heard some people complaining that there should not be a majority senate body being Greek Life,\u201d Elias said. \u201cThat doesn\u2019t reflect every student here. I feel that it should have been more diverse.\u201d<\/p>\n

Macdonald also questioned whether having political parties within SG truly matters once elections conclude.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnother question to bring up is, what\u2019s even the legitimacy of parties in elections?\u201d Macdonald said. \u201cOnce the election is over, we don\u2019t talk about parties until next election season.\u201d<\/p>\n

Former senator and fraternity member Christian Shore shared a similar concern, noting that perceptions about Greek Life may discourage some students from participating in SG elections.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of negative connotations with it, and for that reason, people might not want to participate in the election,\u201d Shore said.<\/p>\n

Other students also raised concerns about inclusivity and awareness. UNF student Umaiza Toor, who split her votes between the Talon and SAM parties, said that while she was pleased with the outcome of the Student Body President election, most of the Senate candidates she supported were not elected.<\/p>\n

\u201cI do believe that Muslim voices, or minority religious voices, are missing, as well as regular non-sorority [and] fraternity voices,\u201d Toor said.<\/p>\n

Another student admitted they did not vote because they were not informed enough about SG to participate.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn all honesty, I didn\u2019t pay much attention to the election,\u201d said psychology student Fiama Villafan. \u201cA lot of people are more serious in their political views. When it comes to voting, it has gotten to the point where it doesn\u2019t exactly feel safe to vote, in my opinion.\u201d<\/p>\n

Midterm Madness or Finals Frenzy?<\/p>\n

A proposal from the University and Student Affairs (USA) Committee was sent back for revisions after a 16-2 vote by the Senate on Friday. <\/p>\n

Sen. Macdonald proposed two changes to Title XII of the SG Constitution: requiring senators to conduct Osprey Voice monthly and shifting responsibility for Midterm Madness from Finals Frenzy to the USA Committee. The proposal drew debate over whether replacing Finals Frenzy with Midterm Madness was in students\u2019 best interest. <\/p>\n

Sen. Brooke Deluccia pushed back on the change, noting that most of her classes have finals rather than midterms, and points out that students will still feel burnout at the end of the semester.<\/p>\n

\u201cShouldn\u2019t we be doing what\u2019s best for students and not what\u2019s easiest to plan?\u201d said Deluccia.<\/p>\n

Sen. Lily Vazquez raised concerns about the ambiguity of when Midterm Madness would be held, given that students have midterms at different times, and suggested keeping both events on the table.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt makes me wonder if you can do both and have a Midterm Madness day and then do a Finals Frenzy week,\u201d said Vazquez.<\/p>\n

Senator Ignacio Castaneda motioned to return the proposal to committee, and the Senate voted 16-2 in favor, with Macdonald abstaining as the bill\u2019s author. Senators Hunter Hayes and Jack Yanow cast the two dissenting votes.<\/p>\n

Following the vote, Senate President Kamyla Carrasquillo-Lebron encouraged more senators to attend the next USA Committee meeting to ensure a broader range of perspectives are represented in future revisions.<\/p>\n

Stricter Auditing for RSOs<\/p>\n

Both Joseph and Student Body Treasurer Katherine Toro Villanueva presented revisions to the SG Constitution\u2019s Finance Code, implementing stricter audit procedures for RSOs to strengthen financial accountability and ensure compliance with Title VIII.\u00a0<\/p>\n

UNF\u2019s Finance Code<\/a> or Title VIII governs how the Student Government collects, allocates, and spends Activity and Service fee money<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Under the proposed revised rules, the treasurer can initiate audits with OIC assistance, and RSOs must comply or risk losing their good standing and A&S funding.<\/p>\n

Villanueva is looking to implement a structured audit process for RSOs. To initiate an audit, the Treasurer contacts the RSO in writing with assistance from the Osprey Involvement Center (OIC) Director. However, due to different schedules with the OIC Director, Villanueva often collaborates with Joseph.<\/p>\n

\u201cSince Hazel and I take many of the same classes, we can work together on the auditing process,\u201d said Villanueva.\u00a0<\/p>\n

From there, the RSO would have five business days to acknowledge and begin scheduling. If the RSO does not respond, the treasurer issues escalating notices of non-compliance, each granting additional time to respond.\u00a0<\/p>\n

If RSOs fail to schedule an audit within 20 total business days, OIC will deem them \u201cNot in Good Standing\u201d and the RSO will lose eligibility for A&S Fee funding until they comply.<\/p>\n

The revisions to Title VIII were passed with 18 votes.<\/p>\n

Special Requests\u00a0<\/p>\n

After being approved<\/a> by the Budget and Allocations Committee before spring break, representatives from the Latin American Student Organization (LASO), Fencing and Hema Club, and the Sculpture Guild repeated their presentations at the senate body meeting.<\/p>\n

All three organizations had their requests approved and are now awaiting approval from the Student Body President, Amelia Dyal.<\/p>\n

Up Next<\/p>\n

Student Government\u2019s Committees will hold meetings on Friday, April 3. Meeting times and locations are below.<\/p>\n

The Rules and Oversight Committee will meet at 10 a.m. in the Senate Chambers (Bldg. 58E, Room 3200).\u00a0
\nThe Budget and Allocations Committee will meet at noon in the Senate Chambers.
\nThe University and Student Affairs Committee will meet at 2 p.m. in the John E. Sapp Conference Room (Bldg. 58E, Room 3206).<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

For more information or news tips, or if you see an error in this story or have any compliments or concerns, contact [email\u00a0protected]<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u00a0The University of North Florida Student Government (SG) validated the Spring 2026 election results on Friday, officially naming…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":213110,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[116,118,117],"class_list":["post-213109","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville-headlines","tag-jacksonville-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/213109","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=213109"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/213109\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/213110"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=213109"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=213109"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=213109"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}