On Monday, April 6, the Election Procedures Commission of Macalester College Student Government (MCSG) announced the results of the 2026-27 Executive Board elections. 644 total ballots were cast this election, representing approximately 31% of the student population. The contested positions included MCSG President, as well as chairs of the Academic Affairs Committee, Communications and Engagement Committee (CEC), and Student Organizations Committee.
The other executive roles filled in this election were Vice President, Program Board (PB) Chair, Cabinet Chair, and Financial Affairs Committee (FAC) Chair.
The Mac Weekly sat down with the newly elected board members to hear about their experience and their goals for MCSG.
Elected as President was David Christenfeld ’27, who earned 53 percent of the 607 votes cast, winning the contested election against Galjer Yangwaue ’27. This year, Christenfeld was the FAC Chair in MCSG, a position he has held since the spring semester of 2025. During his time on FAC, one notable change on campus was the implementation of a higher student activity fee to fund student organizations. He ran for president with a vision to continue to change MCSG and the broader campus community.
“The changes I wanted to make with the FAC I [already] made, and so the next level of changes kind of need to move up a step” Christenfeld said. “I really wanted to rework the class-year system [of MCSG roles], and that wasn’t really something I could do as a chair; it was something that would be easier done as President.” Christenfeld said.
More details about Christenfeld’s presidency can be found in his interview with The Mac Weekly.
Other improvements to student life that Christenfeld wants to see include enhancing the liveability of residence halls and increasing funds available to students who want to present their research at conferences.
“Increasing the communal appliances in dorm halls would be excellent,” he said. On the conference note, he added: “This is going to be difficult, but I would love to provide more funding for conference travel … [for] people who want to show their research at academic conferences.”
Liv Peterson ’27 won the uncontested race for Vice President. She has been an MCSG class representative, Speaker of the Legislative Body and is the current chair of the Student Organizations Committee.
“MCSG is definitely where I find a lot of my interests,” Peterson said. “I like being able to know what is going on in other committees. … How I am interpreting the role [of VP] is that it’s a little bit more of the internal affairs — [I will be] more internally-concerned [than the president].”
Peterson hopes to focus on MCSG member retention during her term, as well as on increasing awareness among the student body of what student government does on campus. She wants “more opportunities for the general campus community to engage and learn about what student government does,” noting the disconnect between MCSG’s work and on-campus knowledge of student government initiatives.
Brandon Souverain ’27 and Anna Fratto ’27 were voted co-chairs of PB in an uncontested election.
One of Fratto’s priorities is increasing recognition for the members of the PB, rather than just the events they put on.
“People don’t seem to know the events are run by the PB,” Fratto said. “They see really cool events on campus, then they don’t know who’s doing them. People come to us for money for collaborations, but they don’t actually know what we do … they don’t know the actual people behind the board, and so hopefully we’ll get more recognition for the people who do things.”
Fratto has been a member of PB since her first year and currently serves as an event coordinator.
Souverain is currently abroad in Thailand and was not available for an interview.
Pacha Laplanche ’29 won 63 percent of the vote for CEC Chair, defeating two other candidates. He is a current first-year representative.
“I’m really passionate about student engagement and wanting to create events,” Laplanche said.
“Right now, there’s a lack of engagement [between] the student body and MCSG, as in the student body does not really show up to MCSG events … not exactly with the number that I want,” he added.
Advertising events in the Mac Daily, as well as making informational events more fun, are both priorities for Laplanche’s term as chair. He remains optimistic about the turnout for future MCSG-sponsored events.
Gabby Bui ’29 defeated Owen King ’27 with 67% of the vote to become chair-elect of the Academic Affairs Committee (AAC).
Bui currently sits on the college-wide Educational Policy and Governance (EPAG) Committee, as well as on the AAC in his capacity as a first-year class representative.
As one of the two students on EPAG, Bui says he has the experience to implement change on campus. During his time on the committee, a change was made to allow courses taken with the S/SD/N (pass/fail) option to count toward major and minor requirements this semester. Bui says multiple students have reached out to him and expressed gratitude for the change.
Bui wants the Academic Affairs Committee to represent the initialism AAC, “advocating for current resources, accessibility without barriers, and creating pathways and community.” Through his time on EPAG and the AAC, Bui has formed connections he hopes to leverage as the AAC chair.
“I’m the one who will be able to connect between the voices and the policy changes,” he said.
Kat Northrop ’27 ran uncontested in the election for FAC Chair.
Northrop has served in MCSG as a junior class representative since the beginning of this semester, giving her comparatively less student government experience than newer executive board members. She has sat on the FAC during her tenure in MCSG and has realized the importance of electing student government members who equitably manage budgets and distribute funds.
“I wanted to run for Financial Affairs Committee Chair because not only do I love the FAC, but I also think that part of the way that it supports the student community is not necessarily seen,” she said. “I think people tend to see it as a committee that takes money away, more than that distributes it. I want to really change how that’s viewed.”
Under her leadership, Northrop said that, “the Financial Affairs Committee is here to help [the campus community] and to support student orgs, and is not interested in taking money away but instead making sure that money is equitably distributed across the campus.”
Rohini Chatwani ’29 beat Avani Khanvilkar ’29 for the Student Organizations Committee Chair position, winning 65% of the votes.
As an incumbent class representative, Chatwani sits on the MCSG Communications and Engagement Committee.
In her new role, Chatwani will be emphasizing the relationship between MCSG and its student orgs.
“Something I’d want to focus on is being able to really connect with each and every org to make sure that they’re in a place that they are happy with.”
Another of her priorities will be ensuring current and incoming students are aware of how to use Mac’s new student org portal.
“Highland Hub is something that opened this year, but I know a lot of people still don’t really know what it is. It’s basically a place where all the Macalester student orgs and clubs are listed, and you can join clubs from there, but I think people are not really using it. And so something I want to do is, from the beginning of next year, make sure that all the classes, especially incoming freshmen, know that it’s a resource available to them.”
Chatwani says she is excited to work with the FAC to ensure all student organizations receive as much funding as they need.
Ash Granda-Bondurant ’27 won the uncontested election to become Cabinet Chair. The chair of the MCSG Cabinet oversees the issue-based liaisons, including Athletics and Recreation Liaison, the role Granda-Bondurant currently holds.
This academic year is the second in which Granda-Bondurant has been a part of the Cabinet, and he is excited to lead the group for his last year at Macalester.
During his time as Athletics and Recreation Liaison, he has gained a unique additional perspective into athletics as the Scots’ club sports manager. He hopes to carry that experience into a new MCSG position with different responsibilities.
“It made sense to try and see if I could be Cabinet Chair and let someone else run for Athletics and Rec Liaison,” he said. “I still work with athletics, but I like the organizational part of being a chair.”
A priority of his for the next Cabinet will be increasing utilization of the Community Chest, a fund of money from student activity fees that allows individuals or any groups not part of a chartered organization to apply for event funding.
“Anything that can’t go through the FAC can basically come through us,” Granda-Bondurant said. “[But] I don’t think a lot of people really know how to get access to it.”
As Cabinet Chair, he will preside over liaisons to the issues of accessibility, athletics, international students, institutional equity, residential life, and sustainability.
“I’m really excited to meet the new people who are going to come into MCSG, and see what they’re excited about, and I’m really excited to see who’s going to be Athletics and Rec Liaison and what they want to do.”
Voting for the class representative and liaison positions will occur on April 17 through 20.
