TUnited, led by presidential candidate Yaam Malka and vice presidential candidate William Walker, is campaigning on promises of campus unity, transparency and improved quality of life and safety, for their 2025-26 Temple Student Government campaign, the duo announced in a town hall on March 12.
Malka and Walker will face the Temple Tomorrow campaign, led by presidential candidate Lourdes Cardamone and vice presidential Janeese Hochstetler, in an upcoming debate on March 24 and election on March 26-27.
“Knowing that I know how to do [work in student government], and I have some experience there, whether it’s in Temple’s community or not — I want to keep being able to do that,” said Malka, a sophomore psychology and political science major. “I want to keep advocating for the students to get what they want and what they need.”
One of TUnited’s potential structural changes is the reinstatement of a student Senate. The proposal aims to increase diversity and engagement with students who might otherwise remain uninvolved with TSG.
The proposed Senate would hold elections of student representatives from either every class level or school, creating a group of students who can propose bills and accurately represent different types of Temple students.
A similar body, the Parliament, was disbanded in 2022 by former TSG president Gianni Quattrocchi. The initiative lacked student engagement after only passing four resolutions in a year — one including their disbandment. However, Malka believes this was due to a general trend of waning engagement since the COVID-19 pandemic.
Walker, a junior political science and secondary education major, is most passionate about establishing the student senate.
“I think we need more elected positions, which increases a sense of democracy in student elections,” Walker said. “Hopefully we get more people voting. Temple Student Government elections have had very low turnout. We should be having pride in this campus in many ways, and picking our next elected leaders is one way, I believe.”
Student “unity,” both connecting students outside of TSG to the organization and being inclusive of groups like commuters, Greek Life, graduates and first-generation students, is also featured prominently in TUnited’s plans.
Malka believes this extends to other campuses, and uniting with surrounding schools improves their ability to advocate for some of the tricky, long-standing battles they are advocating for, like getting classes canceled on Election Day, implementing a meal swipe donation system and getting more discounts or free SEPTA for students.
The current TSG administration announced the creation of the Philadelphia Government Assembly partnership on March 14 with a similar goal of unifying colleges in addressing city-wide issues.
“One big thing that we did was look into what people have been able to successfully do,” Malka said. “This is both of our first times trying to be part of Temple Student Government, so we wanted to know what was feasible and what has been what students have been able to do on other campuses, and if they can do it there, I mean, we can 100% do it here.”
TUnited’s other quality-of-life-focused policies, like advocating for opening the Howard Gittis Student Center Chick-Fil-A at 7 a.m., creating a “dead week” with no assignments before finals and opening more 24/7 study spaces, generated interest with students as their campaign tabled during the week, Malka said.
Their policy platform is also focused on transparency, seeking to publish their governance documents and meeting minutes, creating a grievance process for the student body and clearly stating where the money TSG allocates goes. They’ve committed to an available “Day One” statement which reiterates every transparency commitment.
“We have no financial transparency,” Malka said. “We have no idea where our money’s going. And one thing that we do have access to is the student activity fee, how much money we’re allocating the clubs. We want to make that public. We want students to feel like they know a little bit more about what’s going on with that.”
Malka and Walker find strength in being “outsiders” as policymakers and candidates, with this campaign being their first time getting involved in TSG.
Despite this, Malka worked in her high school student government and has been an active campus activist, protesting for the release of Israeli hostages in the latest Israel-Hamas war, and Walker is the former president of the Temple Republicans and former vice-chairman for Pennsylvania Federation of College Republicans.
“I think it’s important to never give up on these [policies], because if you give up, then you’ll never get it,” Walker said. “Continuing to advocate for them increases the likelihood that we will eventually get it. That’s okay, we just got to keep fighting. And we’re running as outsiders and hoping we can bring new ways to fight these battles, and hopefully win some things and get some things here.”
Temple Tomorrow and TUnited will compete in a debate moderated by The Temple News in room 234 of the Howard Gittis Student Center on March 24 at 4 p.m.
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