Student Union Election Endorsements

Editor’s Note: Ryan Radwan is a Photos Editor for The Spectator. The Radwan-Binyaminov ticket was subject to the same standards of integrity for their interview and policy review as the other tickets reviewed. Ryan Radwan has agreed to step down as Photos Editor if he is elected. No member of The Spectator participating in the Student Union election was involved in the review or endorsement of the candidates.

Fin Ying-Kelly Chen

Dynamic: Fin Ying (‘25) and Kelly Chen (‘26) met each other staying late to fold SING! T-shirts for the Student Union (SU) in Ying’s sophomore and Chen’s freshman year. This beginning of their partnership and friendship represents the two well as they both have deep commitments to the SU and vast experience in their respective roles. Chen has been a SU Budget member for two years and served as Sophomore Caucus Chief of Staff, and Ying has served as co-president of the Freshman Caucus and the Sophomore Caucus and is currently serving as the SU Vice President. Ying emphasizes the importance of personally connecting with members of the SU cabinet but recognizes the pair’s weakness when it comes to enforcing rules. Through their partnership, the ticket hopes to use Chen’s stricter organizational skills to get work done.

Platform: The Ying-Chen ticket plans to enhance the freshman experience with new resources, such as a “Welcome Week” to capitalize on the excitement, and a 3D map of the school to ease navigation for incoming students. The Ying-Chen ticket also hopes to lower the cost of SING! dues by eliminating the need for T-shirts. While their platform does not promote any particularly novel ideas, the Ying-Chen ticket aims to heighten the efficiency of the SU as a whole by making their emails more transparent, thus improving the effectiveness of the Student Leadership Team’s meetings and streamlining the club allocations process.

Overall Review: While the Ying-Chen ticket benefits from their SU experiences and knowledge of the school, their platform lacks vision and compelling policies. Instead, they emphasize the strength of current SU procedures in regards to the club budget allocation process and beyond, while citing a lack of communication with the school about such procedures as their main failure. Though they believe in transparency and inclusivity as core values, their platform lacks unique plans to implement these values beyond allowing for open student contribution and utilization of social media. That being said, the pair seems to work well together, and the two are undeniably competent candidates.

Madeline Goodwin-Cayla Chew

Dynamic: Madeline Goodwin (‘25) and Cayla Chew (‘26) have both been involved in Student Government since they were freshmen — it’s how they met. Goodwin was involved in Caucus during her freshman year and served as Student Union (SU) Deputy Chief of Staff during her sophomore year. She is currently the SU’s Chief of Staff. Chew served as co-president of the Freshman Caucus and the Sophomore Caucus. The members of this ticket have similar leadership styles — they strive to create a fun, productive, and communicative environment both inside and outside of the SU.

Platform: Goodwin-Chew’s platform heavily focuses on increasing Stuyvesant’s school spirit through frequent advertising in the school and a greater social media presence. One of their primary goals is to improve students’ “quality of life” by hosting a variety of events aimed to ease stress induced by the competitive nature of the school. For example, they plan to organize a Sports Week, with each day designated for a selected sport. Other events include a Sports Team fair, walk-in movie night, Pie Day, and late night picnic. Additionally, the ticket hopes to make students more aware of the resources available to them through a Supplies Drive collaboration with the guidance office and a schoolwide prep book exchange. The Goodwin-Chew ticket aims to lower SING! dues since the cost of dues is often a major concern amongst participants. To relieve the financial burdens of these policies and occasions, Goodwin-Chew plans to hold bake sales and other fundraising events, inspired by successful bake sales held by large organizations within the school, such as those held by the Junior Caucus and the Robotics team. To fund events like prom, they are looking to improve merchandise sales by collaborating with Stuyvesant’s art clubs and art teachers to produce more enticing items. To address the limited space available to clubs on a day-to-day basis, they will propose a plan to the administration for opening rooms on more floors. The Goodwin-Chew ticket also aims to make Homeroom more productive, namely by making activities grade-specific. 

Overall Review: 

Goodwin and Chew bring a realistic yet effective platform to the table and clearly establish their goals and ideas for the SU. There is strong rapport and a collaborative nature between the two, and they complement but do not overpower each other. They demonstrate awareness of the prominent issues at Stuyvesant and outline how they aim to resolve said issues, especially through accurately identifying student demand for lower SING! dues and increased school spirit. Their detailed platform demonstrates thoughtfulness and attention to detail, which fosters hope that they will be successful in implementing their policies. Not only do these candidates bring practical and thoughtful event and policy ideas, but they are also backed by experience within the SU and have a strong understanding of the SU’s role in Stuyvesant. For these reasons, The Spectator endorses this ticket.

Ryan Radwan-Solomon Binyaminov

Dynamic: Ryan Radwan (‘25) and Solomon Binyaminov (‘26) have a strong, mature dynamic. They’ve known each other for two years and have worked together in various extracurricular activities, namely StuyCast. They’re quite collaborative and clearly have the ability to work well together. However, they don’t have a history of working together to lead large organizations. Though Binyaminov has worked as Chief of Staff for his Freshman and Sophomore Caucuses, Radwan lacks robust student government experience.

Platform: 

Radwan and Binyaminov have a subversive and refreshing — though at times overly ambitious — campaign platform. One practical and impactful policy idea they wish to implement is drastically reducing the cost of SING! participation by making the purchase of a SING! T-shirt through SING! dues optional. They also plan to supplement SING! finances with a bake sale and minor ticket price increases. They are adamant about restructuring the Student Union (SU)  to be more representative of the student body by choosing cabinet members from every grade. While this is a good sentiment, this specific kind of representation is already realized in each grade’s student caucus. An upheaval of SU cabinet positions in favor of more underclassmen voices seems difficult and ultimately futile. One of their most radical proposed changes to the structure of the SU is a proposed daily “Student Union class” during tenth period, in which SU cabinet members could meet and collaborate on SU initiatives. Like many tenets of the Radwan-Binyaminov ticket, this idea is creative and inspiring, but it would require an arduous process of negotiating through many bureaucratic layers within the school. They lack a cohesive and realistic plan for working with the administration to realize many of these goals. Finally, they plan to address transparency by including SU social media content and updates on SU initiatives in their weekly emails. This standard of accessibility and transparency is well-considered and should be adopted by any winning ticket. 

Overall Review: Radwan and Binyaminov have commendable attention to detail and an impressive level of professionalism. Their vision — though at times idealistic — seeks to combat the realistic issues of a lack of communication within the SU and the SU’s lack of transparency towards the student body. The duo has also evidently demonstrated their willingness to research and learn through their robust and practical plans to lower SING! dues and expand the SU’s social media footprint. While many of their policies are both creative and compelling, the pair suffers from a lack of student government experience. When compared to the other tickets, this raises concerns about their ability to implement ambitious policies. Though they are capable of working together effectively, Radwan and Binyaminov have not yet proven themselves capable of managing an organization of this scale.