SBA Candidates 2022 — Virginia Law Weekly

Heeth Varnedoe ’23
Presidential Candidate

My name is Heeth Varnedoe, and I am running to be your SBA President.
As SBA president, I will embody the values of diligence, humility, and servant leadership to ensure that all student experiences are enhanced. UVA Law is comprised of a diverse array of backgrounds and perspectives, and I will fight to be a unifying force within our community. I promise to be a bridge builder that brings people together and lifts people up. My platform is based on three bedrock principles: Your Home, Your Voice, Your Year.

Your Home:
I want every student to walk through the doors of the law school and feel a profound sense of belonging. My first semester, I struggled with anxiety and feelings of inadequacy. Now, I look forward to going to school every day, because I was blessed with a community of friends. My hope is to coordinate University resources as well as social opportunities to ensure that every student can find their home at UVA.

Your Voice:
Throughout my undergraduate career, I served in student government and am adept at dealingwith administrators, particularly when their perspective and that of the students are not aligned. I want to amplify student voices to the administration and provide more forums for students to be heard. I plan to host town hall meetings with university leaders that allow for students to voice their concerns directly to decision makers about any issue.

Your Year:
In my experience, the best way to facilitate belonging is to provide people with mediums to cultivate relationships. I will invest SBA resources in a way that promotes those mediums. I will approach the role of president as a servant leader whose sole goal is to facilitate each of you having the year you want to have next year.

Juhi Desai '23
Presidential Candidate

Hi! My name is Juhi Desai and I am running on a ticket for SBA President with Shivani Arimilli for SBA Vice President. Our platform is based on five central pillars; we’d like to increase communication between the SBA and the student body, heighten community engagement by keeping old traditions and building new ones, increase inclusivity by working closely with affinity groups (including, but not limited to, racial and ethnic minorities, queer students, students with disabilities, religious minorities & first generation students), push the school to be more transparent about how decisions are made and increase access to mental health resources as well as destigmatize conversations surrounding mental health.

We’d really like for the SBA to be responsive. While we have several concrete ideas that we’d like to implement next year, we also want to remain flexible and make sure there are opportunities for students to have their voices heard. A big part of our platform is making sure that we are plugged into the student body and are actively listening to student input. We’d also like to use the power of SBA to bring students from different backgrounds together. We have found that, for the most part, most students want the same things. We think that we will be much more successful in our advocacy to administration if we are able to collectivize the student body.

We are so grateful you are considering voting for us! If you are interested in seeing more detailed specifics about our platform, please visit our website at juhishivani2022.com. We welcome any thoughts, questions or concerns! Thank you so much for your time and consideration and we hope you vote for Juhi and Shivani for SBA President and VP on March 2-4.

Paige Kennett '23
Vice Presidential Candidate

As your Vice President, I promise to represent you as individuals and as a collective. I see law school as a communal space and experience; you all deserve to be heard and I will amplify your voices. This campaign is about each of you, separately and together.

I have experience in student government, serving as the co-chair of two SBA committees—Barrister’s Ball and Health & Wellness. Furthermore, I am a passionate and exuberant person who will work tirelessly for each and every student. My platform is based on three bedrock principles: Your Home, Your Voice, Your Year.

Your Home:

As Vice President, I hope to remove barriers that prevent students from studying and socializing. First, I want to make sure that mental health issues at this school are properly addressed. Second, I want to create an inclusive space for each individual to feel welcome and comfortable. UVA Law must be a place and a community where we all feel at home.

Your Voice:

We are a great community because of our diverse backgrounds and opinions; each voice deserves to be heard and considered. Many students have been frustrated with policies implemented by the administration without student input. I will push for more transparency with the administration and more direct communication between the students and the administration. As Vice President, I will make your voices heard.

Your Year:

While we are all here to get an education, we are also here to have fun. I plan to make the most of this upcoming year by ensuring that we have a wide variety of social opportunities that appeal to everyone. I hope to create a space in which every student is able to engage in UVA’s famed social scene. This year is for all of us.

Shivani Arimilli '23
Vice Presidential Candidate

My name is Shivani, and I am running for SBA Vice President! I am proud to be running on a ticket with Juhi, and I believe we can make meaningful, positive changes within the Law School community. As Juhi mentioned, we are running on five main pillars, but I wanted to focus on the two that are central to my potential role as VP.

First, community building. One of the VP’s primary roles is to serve as the chief programming coordinator. I hope to continue existing successful events while creating new events to make up for lost time, better incorporate feedback, and increase inclusivity. This includes:

-Class-wide bonding activities. (e.g., field day, camping trip, wine tour, ski weekend)

-Reimagined SBA socials (e.g., cooking classes, outdoor events like hiking and camping, paint and sips) to complement traditional events.

-Culturally inclusive events.

-New graduation events/traditions, possibly including a class-wide yearbook.

Apart from event programming, we hope to strengthen the community by investing in Spies Garden. This would look like installing tents, lights, and maybe even space heaters, making Spikeball nets and picnic blankets accessible to borrow, and perhaps even starting a community garden.

Second, improving communications. Working with the SBA Secretary, I hope to create a one-stop-shop platform for all SBA programming to streamline communications from SBA to students. That platform would also include various feedback forms (generalized, event-specific, monthly temperature checks) to increase communication from students back to SBA. We hope to put on events that better align with the preferences of the community, so feedback is an integral part of our platform. That said, please tell us about your thoughts on our platform, either using our website (juhishivani2022.com) feedback form, DMing our campaign Instagram (@juhishivani2022), or reaching out directly!

Phoebe Sam '24
Candidate for UJC

The University Judiciary Committee (UJC) is comprised of twenty-seven elected representatives (two from the law school), from each undergraduate and graduate school of the University. The UJC investigates and adjudicates alleged violations of the University’s Standards of Conduct. They hold trials and are empowered to impose sanctions.

I want to serve on this committee to contribute to the stated purpose of promoting a community of respect, safety, and freedom. If elected, my primary goal will be to bring to the committee a fair, skilled and objective assessment of the matters that we hear. Before law school, I worked for five years in labor relations. My position required me to interpret labor agreements, adjudicate grievances filed against the company, and investigate employee complaints. Additionally, I was responsible for deciding disciplinary actions, ranging from a warning to termination. Over time, this developed my ability to analyze complex cases and weigh several factors in reaching a fair and sound decision. The UJC does similar work - assessing the facts of a case to impose guilt, weighing multiple factors in deciding appropriate sanctions and ensuring fair committee policy and procedure. If elected, I would bring many of these skills to bear in my work on the UJC.

Beyond that, I hope my diverse professional and personal experiences will contribute to making the committee's work as thorough and well-informed as possible. Self-governance is strengthened when all aspects of student government, including the composition of the UJC, reflect the diversity of the student body.

I would be honored to serve as one of your representatives on the UJC.

Casey Schmidt '24
Candidate for UJC

My name is Casey Schmidt and I’m running for reelection as University Judiciary Committee Representative. On the UJC, I currently serve as the Vice Chair for Graduate Students, where I preside over misconduct trials and act as a liaison to all graduate schools at the University.

Additionally, I previously served on the UJC for all four years that I was an undergraduate at UVA. My experience has given me an understanding of the mission and inner workings of the organization. It also has provided me with an appreciation for how law students can provide a unique perspective on this student-run judicial system.

Robert McLeod '23
Candidate for Honor Committee

Our shared commitment to Honor is a defining feature of this university. If elected to the Honor Committee, I will work to see that this essential character remains, while also exploring reforms that will allow the Committee to achieve lasting stability. In that spirit, I will attempt to introduce new means to preliminarily dismiss charges which lack sufficient significance, and seek ways to make the Contributory Health Impairment process more efficient. I will also strive to make the Committee more transparent, and seek to closely study sources of recurring violations to provide more targeted community engagement.

Daniel Elliot '24
Candidate for Honor Committee

As a member of the Honor Committee's support officer pool and as a counsel/investigator, I have undergone months of training with the Honor System here at UVA and desire to make sure the Law School's voices are heard as Honor grows to meet the challenges of our current educational, social, and communal landscape. I hope to continue the tradition of Law School representatives to the Honor Committee, challenging systems of inequality and areas of inefficiency by proposing new structures for the Honor Committee hearing process. I’d be honored to have your vote!

Cassidy Cox '23
Candidate for 3L Senator

I’m running for 3L Senator because I believe the position is best accomplished by doing what I already hope my 3L year will consist of: spending time with you all, getting to know you, and listening to you. I have enjoyed serving on SBA for the past two years, amplifying your ideas. Next year, I plan to bring attention to the new SBA VP position, garner student input through tabling in Spies, and organize 3L events. I hope to receive your vote for 3L Senator. Regardless, I’m excited to make the most of our final year as a class together.

Mita Ramani '23
Candidate for 3L Senator

Hi UVA Law! My name is Mita Ramani, and I am running for 3L Senator. Over the past 2 years, I have had the honor of serving as your 2L Senator and 1L Senator! Our class has finally gotten the chance to experience some of the signature UVA Law events. As a 3L Senator, I hope to plan more events that give us a chance to have more fun (3L Bonfire anyone?!). Additionally, I hope to work closely with the new Vice President of DEI on SBA to push forward new initiatives to make UVA Law a more inclusive community.

Holly Bard ‘23
Candidate for 3L Senator

I'm looking forward to serving as Senator again to make 3L the best year we've had yet. In the meantime, please feel free to reach out to me with any questions, concerns, or suggestions.

Grace Allaman '24
Candidate for 2L Senator

If elected as a 2L Senator, I will be a reliable voice for positive change. I want UVA Law to live up to its reputation for community by pursuing active inclusion in everything we do. To build a strong community, we have to work together. I hope to be an engaged representative who continually listens and learns from everyone in our class. I currently serve on SBA’s Health and Wellness Committee and look forward to helping continue its mission of keeping students happy, healthy, and safe as we navigate the year ahead. Thank you for your vote!

Rowan Adams ‘24
Candidate for Treasurer and 2L Senator

SBA Secretary Statement:

Hello, my name is Rowan Adams and I am running for SBA Secretary. I am qualified for this position due to my experience with student government in undergrad as Vice President and in law school as FYC President.

As FYC President, I have helped SBA organize events off campus, such as Foxfield, and planned events on campus, such as FYC’s Halloween Carnival. I am also a 1L Senator for SBA and a member of the Diversity Advisory Council. In these roles, I have come to learn more about life at UVA Law, particularly the challenges students face. I hope to become Secretary in order to work with Exec to address these challenges head on. I also want to make SBA’s communication to the school more clear and concise. I will do this by revamping SBA’s email format and supporting the VP of DEI's efforts to create a campus-wide calendar that will include every event so that students do not miss out on programming.

In addition to my position’s responsibilities, I will pursue a few action items. First, I want to organize an effort next September that ensures that every student, particularly the new 1Ls, has a professional headshot photograph. Second, I will bring back a Student Affairs program where students can sign up to go on a free “blind (friend) coffee date” to get to know another student at UVA Law. Third, in my weekly SBA emails, I will include a “UVA CompLAWments” section where every week there will be anonymous compliments about UVA students that another student has submitted. Fourth, create a communal fund at the ScoCo cafe where students can donate money so that others can get a free coffee or meal.

Given my past experience, passion, and plans for student government, I sincerely hope that you will vote for me for SBA Secretary!

2L Senator Statement:

I am running for 2L Senator, as well as SBA Secretary. In SBA, I will help plan events for our class and continue serving on the Diversity Advisory Council. Additionally, I will ensure that diverse students' voices are heard in SBA. As a non-binary student, I bring a unique voice to the table. I hope to use my voice and meet with other students on campus to ensure their voices are heard too. I hope to remain a part of SBA next year to continue my passion for student government and make this school as fun and inclusive as possible

Grace Stevens ‘24
Candidate for Treasurer and 2L Senator

Secretary Statement:

As SBA Secretary, my goal is to use existing channels like the Law Street Journal to bring a heightened sense of transparency to SBA and develop new channels to reach and recognize more community members.

While the Law Street Journal conveys important information about upcoming events and the previous meeting’s minutes, I can create a more effective email format that highlights, rather than hides, information about SBA and its initiatives so everyone feels more connected to our governing body. Additionally, I would like to build an SBA presence on social media platforms to provide another outlet to uplift the events, activities, and people of our community. SBA’s primary touchpoint with the student body does not need to be email — SBA can, and should, to a better job of facing the UVA Law Community by connect with the student body through other mediums.

While at Virginia Tech, I fulfilled roles that lend me the skills required to accomplish my goals. I served as a voice for my classmates as the Vice President of the Class of 2021, I experimented with weekly email formats to find the best way to convey information as an executive board member of an organization, and I built social media accounts as a Homecoming Court candidate. I’ve continued to seek out leadership opportunities here at UVA Law. As the FYC Vice President, I organize and publicize weekly Bar Reviews. I also serve as a 1L Senator, which has allowed me to understand where SBA can improve and brainstorm ways each position can mold the organization to the needs of the UVA Law community. While some may see the Secretary role as nothing more than weekly emails, I see opportunities to bring greater transparency to SBA and highlight the organizations and individuals that make our experience unique.

2L Senator Statement:

As 2Ls, we will define what our community becomes without the institutional knowledge of the current 3Ls. My strengths lie in community building and event organization. I believe I can use my strengths, coupled with the input of members of our class, to accomplish my goal of refreshing community by adapting the framework of the events SBA historically held to the changing priorities of the student body. To help with these efforts, I would also like to use this position to allow 2Ls to voice their feedback, questions, and concerns through rotating office hours hosted by all 2L Senators.