UB Forward 2026
Our Ticket
Meet the team behind UB Forward — student leaders ready to move our campus forward.
Candidate for President
Grant Peterson
Grant Peterson is leading UB Forward with a focus on advocacy, execution, and a student government that delivers visible results for the UB community.
As one of this year's SA Senators and a SUNY Student Assembly Delegate, I'm running for President because SA can do more for students, and this year's work proves it.
Resolutions S#10 and S#23 on student space allocation both passed the Student Association (SA) Senate, S#10 unanimously and S#23 with only one vote against. I encouraged the affected students to bring the issue to the attention of the Faculty Senate, whose open letter encouraged Vice President Hamluk to meet with the students of Room 373. As a Delegate for SUNY Student Assembly, the two resolutions I authored passed with wide margins: one endorsing stronger protections for protesters and free speech (84% YES), and another encouraging direct, voting student involvement in college governance (87% YES), which includes (but isn't limited to) things that greatly affect students, like broad university policies and grading guidelines.
This isn't a campaign on "transparency" as a buzzword. It's a campaign on making it actionable: public hiring rubrics for SA staff, clearly defined roles and office hours in every department, and ensuring that not just SA's policies but its procedures are posted publicly, so students have a clear picture of how SA employees are required to act in their specific roles.
Our fourteen-point platform is the only one in this race with specific, actionable plans. It's posted on our website, ubforward.com, which is another thing no other party's website has. Our first op-ed addresses the rights of student protesters; a separate op-ed on student spaces preceded the campaign and reflects views the whole party shares. While some of our competitors have been campaigning for years on better communication, we practically announced our candidacy by sending a letter straight to the Spectrum. The last time an SA E-Board or candidate did that was 2018.
The whole ticket came about when Josh, our VP Advocacy candidate, and I were talking about the Senate back in December. We figured it was pretty surprising how little of a role the SA Senate plays; we could do far more good, especially regarding student life, if we went for the E-Board. We adopted Josh's one-man party name and assembled a strong team. Our Treasurer Kaly has more hands-on experience as a leader in SA's clubs than anybody else. Joe is an ambitious freshman who became a club leader in his first semester and started forming his own around that time. Roja is a woman of action with real-world experience in leadership who has my full confidence in being able to pull Club Services out of its current state of dire slowness: Joe's club took way too many emails for something as simple as starting a club.
At Nassau Community College, I served as the student Academic Senate Chair. The best way to explain the role is this: a voting member and liaison to NCC's equivalent of UB's Faculty Senate, where I also authored and coauthored multiple resolutions, plus serving on NCC's FSA as well as their SA's finance and executive committees. The closest equivalent at UB is VP Advocacy. Outside SA and SUNY, I'm VP of UB Downstate, which I co-founded with Joe, and VP of Model Congress.
I ask the reader to compare our specific platform with the vagueness of our competitors.
The Full Ticket
VP Advocacy
Josh Brodsky
Josh Brodsky is focused on representing student concerns clearly and consistently, and turning advocacy into concrete wins on campus.
Hey UB! I'm Josh, a sophomore studying Law and Political Science. I'm currently a Senator in the SA, and I'm running for Vice President of Student Advocacy.
I ran for executive board before. I came up short, but I stayed in the Senate because the work matters more than the title. This year I cosponsored Grant's resolutions on student space allocation and worked with our team to build out what became UB Forward's platform - including the push for 24-hour dining and healthier food options that I think a lot of students have been waiting to hear.
The Advocacy department needs structure. Right now, too many students don't know who to go to or what Advocacy actually does. I want to fix that - clear job descriptions, a transparent hiring process, and a publicly available rubric so every appointment is earned. Students shouldn't have to guess who's supposed to help them.
I also want to make sure advocacy isn't just reactive. We shouldn't wait for problems to blow up before we respond. I want regular check-ins with clubs, open office hours, and a system where students can flag concerns before they become crises.
College throws a lot at you - academic pressure, money, personal stuff. Someone in SA should be actively working to bring those concerns forward, not just acknowledging them. That's what I want to do.
I'm asking for your vote. Let's make advocacy mean something.
Treasurer
Kaly Lin
Kaly Lin is committed to responsible budgeting, transparent financial decisions, and making sure student resources support organizations effectively.
Hey UB! I'm Kaly, a junior in Biological Sciences and Medicinal Chemistry, and I'm running for SA Treasurer.
I ran for this position two years ago and came close. Since then I've spent my time doing the work anyway. I've held positions in LGBTA, WISE, and helped found three organizations - the Creative Arts Club, the Multicultural Club, and the Undergraduate Society of Bioethics and Medicine. I've seen the SA budget process from the club side more times than I can count, and I know exactly where it frustrates people.
Our platform calls for replacing the tier system with service-based funding and liberalizing the purchase request process so clubs can use cost-effective suppliers. These aren't abstract ideas to me. I've sat in the meetings where clubs get told they can't access their own money because of rules that don't make sense. I want to fix the structure, not just manage it.
I've TA'd several courses, earned the Sol J. Lederman Award and the Marillo Scholarship for Science and Math. I say that not to list credentials but because those experiences taught me how to be precise and accountable - which is exactly what the SA budget needs.
Every dollar in the SA budget comes from students. I want to make sure students can actually see where it goes and why. I'm asking for your vote.
VP Clubs
Roja Khanam
Roja Khanam is centered on strengthening student organizations, improving support for clubs, and helping campus groups grow and collaborate.
Hey UB! I'm Roja, a junior studying Law, and I'm running for Vice President of Club Services.
I'll be honest - I haven't held a club executive board position. But I've been deeply involved in student life at UB in ways that taught me what students actually need from the people in charge. I'm a True Blue Ambassador working with first-generation students, a member of Mock Trial and Sisters in Law, and part of CSTEP. I've made the Dean's List and I speak four languages - Bengali, Hindi, Spanish, and Urdu - which means I can connect with parts of UB's student body that don't always feel represented.
Club Services right now has a clarity problem. Clubs don't always know who to talk to, what the process is, or why things take so long. Our platform calls for merging club coordinators into one office and clearly defining every role. I want to make that happen - not as bureaucracy for its own sake, but because clubs deserve a system that actually works for them.
I'm passionate about making sure every student organization, especially smaller ones and newer ones, gets a fair shot at support. I work for the Erie County Democrats, so I know how to organize, follow through, and show up for people. That's what I'll bring to this role.
I'm asking for your vote. Let's make Club Services actually serve clubs.
Events
Joe Laurita
Joe Laurita is working to build a stronger campus atmosphere through better programming, stronger turnout, and events that students actually want to attend.
Hey UB! I'm Joseph, a freshman History major running for Vice President of Events for UB SA. I've been thinking a lot about how we can make UB's event scene something students actually get excited about - and I'm ready to bring that energy to this role.
Here's what I'm pushing for as VP of Events:
Booking bigger, buzzworthy acts.
Scaling up event size strategically, because larger events actually cost SA less per student, which means more money back in clubs' pockets.
Focusing on fresh, emerging artists alongside bigger names to keep our events exciting and affordable.
I'm not just talking about events - I've been building them for years. Here's what I've done:
Co-founded and led Baymen Backstage, a technical theater group, serving as head of lighting & sound and club secretary.
Helped with the lighting and sound for theatrical runs of Chicago, The Addams Family, and Clue, plus 4D movie nights.
Founded UB Downstate, a club connecting students from NYC, Long Island, and the Lower Hudson Valley with each other and with professionals in one of the hardest job markets in the world.
Joined the Cosplay Club's Junior E-Board, helping prep for UB Con - reaching out to voice actors and cosplayers, negotiating fees, and leading meetings like the History of Cosplay meeting.
I also fully support our party's platform - 24-hour dining, protecting student rights, and fighting for what UB students actually need.
I want the students in my class and the ones coming after us to look back and know we made this place better. I show up, I follow through, and I get things done.
I'm asking for your vote. Let's build something great.