The 2026 executive race for Student Government was demanding and filled with mutual passion between two tickets sharing their own visions of how to best represent the Eastern Michigan University student body.
When Nina Freeman and Eva Orlich Rojas were announced as the president-elect and vice president-elect, they were surrounded by friends at an informal election night ice cream party.
"It was very exciting seeing the outcome," Orlich told The Eastern Echo. "But I think what was the most impactful for both of us was the process of the election: seeing all the support from our friends, and support from the people that we didn't even know, or we weren't even close to."
Freeman said that their friends pitched in throughout the campaign by handing out flyers, talking to potential voters and staying out past sundown to get the word out.
In the final days before voting opened, promotional materials across campus multiplied. By the time ballots were being cast, a single bulletin board in Pray-Harrold was covered in nearly a dozen flyers between the two tickets. 12 hours before voting closed, Freeman and Orlich received an official, last-minute endorsement from the EMU College Democrats.
"Eva and Nina really embody what us here at the College Democrats stand for," said Joe Garris, club president, in an announcement video on Instagram.
For challengers Yasrib Farook and Mirna Shehab, the results were a bittersweet ending to a hard-fought campaign that was ultimately swung by 136 voters.
"It was a very tough competition between us and them ... and I think we did great from our side," Farook said, later adding, "We had a lot of supporters from [the] Black community. We had a lot of supporters from [the] international community, and I'm very thankful to all the students who supported us throughout the election. Plus, we did our best."
Shehab echoed his sentiment that they had given it their all, and both candidates voiced their appreciation for the people who supported their campaign, especially Salma Ibrahim, their friend and fellow student who served as their campaign manager.
In post-election interviews, all four candidates also expressed their mutual appreciation for each other. Shehab said that Freeman and Orlich reached out to them after the election with words of encouragement.
"I think both of us really admire the other two candidates," Orlich said. "They did a lot for that campaign; we could see it. And at the end of the day, we know each other, we work together ... We really wanted the best for them during the campaign, before and after."
Farook said that his hopes were focused on the good of his fellow students and that Freeman would be a good fit for president due to her experience in Student Government.
"I would love to see some good change," he said, explaining that it did not ultimately matter to him who was in office as long as important policies were being implemented.
"Other students, they think that Student Government doesn't matter in their life," Farook said. "But it actually does ... If you seek help from Student Government, I think everyone would love to help you out and navigate through your challenges."
Asked if they would seek reappointment to open Senate seats in the next year, Farook and Shehab both said they planned to step away from Student Government to focus on their academic and career goals.
Freeman, who will be the first female Student Government president in eight years, said she expects to be sworn in at the beginning of the summer. Both she and Orlich said their priority over break would be to continue building connections with departments and student organizations across campus.
Another connection that Freeman and Orlich were keen on building was with the newly-appointed EMU President Brendan Kelly, whom they plan to meet with more over the summer.
"He keeps asking us to throw [out] our biggest hopes and dreams of what this campus could look like out there," Freeman said. "And it sounds like he's taking proactive steps to be like, okay, this is how we can make this happen."
Freeman said that Kelly was also actively meeting with students and trying to include those who hadn't had a chance to voice their thoughts. Orlich agreed, saying that she could "definitely see that he has a lot of passion for everything that can change [at] Eastern."
When asked how they planned to implement their campaign platform, including expanding food access and increasing winter accessibility, Freeman and Orlich said that they were already taking steps towards those goals in the current term. Freeman said that they would be doing a two-hour safety analysis walk with Kelly, Chief of Police Matthew Lige and the Disability Resource Center to identify potential infrastructure issues around campus.
Additionally, in their last meeting of the semester, the Student Senate voted to allocate $12,000 in new funding to Swoop's Food Pantry. Orlich said that she and Freeman were in active communication with leadership at Swoop's to identify ways that Student Government could support them in the next year.
"We're very excited to see what we can bring to the community," Orlich said, adding that they were looking forward to implementing as many ideas from the community as possible. "We're very excited, also, to work with the president. It's a new administration from us, and it's a new administration from him, which makes it even more exciting."
Freeman agreed, saying that this will be a chance to include more students in decision-making.
Freeman said that the start of their administration coinciding with Kelly’s would provide a unique opportunity to field a wide range of student voices "so that a small group of people is not influencing change that then is going to affect thousands of students for years and years to come."
