This year’s TWUSA executive elections began when applications opened on January 12 and ended with voting from January 21 to 23. President-elect candidates Sena Tese and Tunu Kibe were closely matched, with Tunu receiving 45.8 percent of the votes and Sena receiving 48.8 percent of the votes. The remaining 5.4 percent of votes were for no candidate. 

New and returning TWUSA members making up the 2026-2027 executive team include Executive Vice President Shalom Obakin, Vice President of Finance Arturo Lombardo, Vice President of Academic Relations Brooklynn Delainey and Vice President of Student Relations Calista Chung. 

Alongside the executive team are the newly appointed faculty representatives: Diana Chakharian (Business), Yasas Sritharan (HKIN), David Kim (FHSS), Spencer Dyck (SAMC), Lily Liu (Education), Shaurya Dewani (FNAS) and Savreet Kaur (Nursing). 

Mars’ Hill asked the members of the TWUSA 2026-2027 executive team to answer: How will you ensure that students’ voices are heard? 

President Senater (Sena) Tese

“It’s not just about how students’ voices are being heard, but also how they are being understood,” clarified Sena. “Both staff and students need to continuously work together to bridge understanding. There are realities that we are not exposed to as students that limit us from fully understanding what is taking place. In a similar manner, I think it is easy to not fully note how students might receive changes taking place.”

As this is her primary goal for next year, Sena aspires for this understanding to go both ways. “I hope we can work together and build more unity within our community regardless of what happens,” she said. According to Sena, TWUSA is here to figure out what the students need to know, the best ways to communicate that information and how to help students so that they can have a better TWU experience. 

“I’m really excited for next year. I think a lot of this year was listening and also trying to understand and finding methods that work. Next year, it’s still continuing, . . . but we also want to make sure that [students are] being understood, and decisions are being made with that in mind,” said Sena. It is important to note that Sena does not think that students are going unheard; rather, she feels that students need to know that their voices are heard, and what changes take place from the feedback they provide. “We’re still trying to figure out what really works for us as a community,” she concluded. 

Vice President of Finance Arturo Lombardo

“What we’re trying to do is be open and listen to students [by] putting ourselves in their positions,” said Arturo. “[Since] we are in different years, majors and situations, our goal should be [to understand] what they’re going through, what is happening and how we can be of support.” Now in charge of TWUSA’s finances, Arturo is determined to understand how he can be the best bridge between the student body and TWU, particularly when it comes to how money is allocated. For him, listening to students’ voices is not simply pouring money into advance; rather, he intends to create value by strategically investing in different faculties. 

Executive Vice President Shalom Obakin

“As vice president, my role is to make sure that the team is set up in a way that students can engage with the different people on the team,” said Shalom. “For me, it just looks like [being] able to respond to any student’s question, . . . even if they have to be directed to the right person or [if I need to say], ‘Okay, I don’t have this answer right now, but I will go find an answer for you and work something out.’” Shalom intends for each member of TWUSA to incorporate student engagement into their roles. She will also be sitting on the TWU Senate, and will ensure that students’ perspectives are taken into account before the senate’s final decisions are made. 

“We are here to be the voice of students. We are here to make sure that faculty and the Executive Leadership Team (ELT) understand what students are feeling and are trying to say, and present that in a manner that faculty and the ELT can also understand.”

Shalom elaborated. In doing so, Shalom hopes that the information provided to faculty and the ELT becomes something tangible that they can work on and proceed with. 

Vice President of Academic Relations Brooklynn Delainey

Brooklynn intends to work with faculty representatives to support students and their decisions relating to clubs and academics. “This is important to me because students are so often overlooked when standing alone,” she said. “I aim to promote club ratification and potential club ideas so students have a wider variety of clubs they can join and express themselves through, [and that] way students feel heard and seen through both their passions and academics.”

Vice President of Student Relations Calista Chung

Calista believes that having student voices be heard is a given and hopes to create a space where all feel welcome. “Although I cannot ensure perfection in my role, whatever that may truly look like, I can ensure that I act, speak, and think in a way that allows students to feel comfortable enough to come to me with the issues they are facing,” she said, emphasizing that TWUSA is a space where students are ready to serve. “We are not some prestigious club; we are servants of the student body.”

Above all, the executive team is determined to best empower the students they serve, supporting them through advocacy, opportunity and community.

Sena is most excited about seeing what the Lord will do within TWUSA and TWU. “I feel like there’s a powerful thing that’s going to happen next school year. There seems to be such a shift and somehow an understanding of that shift because I’m starting to see a lot more people involved in prayer or discipleship,” she said.

“The beautiful thing about our institution is that we really do care for every person. And for those who don’t feel that, that is so fair. But I just hope that people understand that we’re all working together to make this experience a great one for each and every person.”

Ultimately, Sena’s hope is for TWUSA to do things for the Lord. “At the end of the day, if the name of the Lord is not glorified, then I do not know what I’m doing. And what does that look like? That means we are intentional in love; we’re intentional in service. We’re intentional in saying sorry when we’ve done wrong, and we’re intentional in humility,” she concluded. “It’s not gonna be easy, but I think it’s going to be something so beautiful.”