On the evening of Wednesday, February 18, the George Washington University Law Student Bar Association (SBA) held its 2026 Candidate Forum for the presidential and vice presidential elections. Candidates were given two minutes to make an opening statement, along with a brief period to answer questions submitted by the student body.
The forum heard from SBA presidential candidates Juliana Fernandez (2L) and Jaimon Cater (1L), along with vice presidential candidate Thaddeus Canuel (2LE).
Fernandez began by discussing her experiences representing the student body as a current Senator and Chief of Staff of the executive branch, Co-President of the Latin American Law Student Association (LALSA), and President and Founder of the Criminal Law Society (CLS). Fernandez said she was very passionate about her involvement on campus and would like the chance to continue improving the law school experience.
“A vote for me means your concerns will always be heard,” said Fernandez. “I would use my knowledge and experience to enact change driven by input from the entire student body, starting first with making SBA more accessible to every law student and ensuring that all students have what they need to use the resources available to them.”
Cater discussed his roles prior to law school in the federal government, reflecting on how his experiences from working with the State Department, Department of Justice (DOJ), Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI), United States Air Force, and the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) could translate into handling student affairs and budget management.
“I got to experience not just budget reconciliation or management in these federal government executive places; that’s the same thing that I want to bring to you here in SBA,” he said. “I think SBA would enjoy a person who not only represents you well, but can communicate to leadership.”
Canuel similarly discussed his prior service as an SBA Senator and current role as the Rules and Constitution Committee Chair, believing his experience and knowledge will benefit SBA and the student body.
“As an evening student, I am eager to represent the interests of students from all walks of life in the law school,” said Canuel. “I will advocate for improved amenities, for better academic policies, and I will contribute to student safety and well-being on campus. I value your voice, and I hope that you all will trust me with your vote.”
The candidates addressed the critical issue of supporting student organizations, including challenges such as budget constraints and reimbursement inefficiencies.
“I think one of the biggest problems that organizations have had is budgets and financial concerns, especially when it comes to reimbursements after they’ve used whatever money was allotted to them for the school year,” said Fernandez. “I think mobilizing that program a little bit better, and making sure that the organizations are getting back their money more effectively and in a faster process — it’s their main concern.”
Cater also proposed solutions centered on improved communication and financial management to help student organizations.
“Reimbursements and focusing on that is more of a process issue, and that is always, always solved or helped with and managed with clear communication and clear pathways on how to properly reimburse student organizations, and maybe creating a quarterly review plan,” said Cater.
Canuel, when asked about his plans to improve the role of Executive Vice President from its current performance, said he aimed to expand the role and guidance for senators to be more active and understand what exactly they can do to serve their constituencies.
“We’ve made a ton of progress this year [with] more training resources and more guidance, but I think that that’s just something that we can improve on,” he said. “I would love to work with senators to give them the resources and the education that they need to be the most effective senators possible.”
Candidates also discussed how they seek to balance opportunities and interests for a student body with diverse political views, with conflicting demands, such as the recent boycott of the career fair in protest of ICE and concerns of employment opportunities.
“Every student voice matters [especially] in serious situations like what happened with GW and the protests that went on. I fully support the students who wanted their voice heard and to protect not only what happened in Minnesota but to be a louder voice for our school in what is morally incomprehensible,” said Cater. “Now, in terms of the conservative students and liberal students, I think that we need to hear both sides and come to a common dialogue on understanding what was at stake in those moments.”
“The voices of our students matter very much, so we represent the students,” Fernandez said. “They want to come to us to tell us about their concerns and we voice it out for them. Part of being able to do that is having a good relationship with the dean.”
“Every voice matters, and they should all be heard and valued; the role of the SBA is to be a non-partisan representative of the student body,” said Canuel. “I would hear both sides, raise them to the administration, and work to create a dialogue to find a resolution.”
Later, the candidates discussed specific issues they felt SBA had not adequately addressed and their proposals.
Fernandez said that one specific issue that the SBA has not adequately addressed is the lack of transparency and accessibility in its decision making.
“I think the one thing that I would want to work on if I were given the opportunity is transparency,” said Fernandez. “I think a lot of the issues come from not communicating and not making the students aware of what is going on in the school, what they need to know, what the problems are, what the possible solutions are that we’re thinking of.”
Cater also discussed his efforts to improve accessibility to the SBA for the student body.
“SBA provides a bedrock of connection for the university, and I want to be able to have SBA expand upon that,” said Cater. “I think in terms of what I’m able to provide as president would be not only accessibility, but the Dean’s dialogue, creating a communication with the dean that’s on transparency, conversations with faculty, and access to more accessible video student series on more disciplines for career services, and the 24/7 feedback form.”
Canuel, similarly to the presidential candidates, expressed interest in these priorities.
“It is a huge priority that we should be focusing on making the SBA accessible and making sure that the resources in the SBA and the law school are well known and accessible to students,” said Canuel.
SBA Election Day is on Wednesday, February 25, 2026.
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