Tiu Elected President of Kennedy School Student Government

Jerwin A. Tiu, a second-year Master in Public Policy student, will serve as the next president of the Kennedy School Student Government, the elections committee announced on Wednesday evening.

Tiu was elected alongside incoming executive vice president Carlos Hernan Ramirez, a first-year student in the Master in Public Administration in International Development program, and a team of 12 vice presidents.

Tiu, who campaigned on increased support for international students and internal transparency at KSSG, triumphed over candidates Harry Park, Dianah Mukundwa, and Carlos E.B. Alejandrino in a four-way race.

Tiu also said he would launch an initiative called “Reimaging HKS and the HKS student experience” to bring about a series of popular reforms, including curriculum revisions, more community events, and the return of free coffee.

In an interview last week, Tiu said students were already feeling the effects of budget cutbacks in a financial landscape made vulnerable by funding cuts and an endowment tax hike.

“Things like coffee, things like limited funding for conferences, they’re all being felt in very different ways,” Tiu said. “It seems like the school is shaving those costs off HKS-wide, as opposed to cutting off large ticket items.”

But Tiu was optimistic that he could be an effective messenger between students and the HKS administration. Tiu, who worked with HKS Dean Weinstein’s office on a financial aid initiative last year, characterized the dean as “really receptive” to student feedback and said KSSG had a “unique opportunity” to influence his decision-making.

“Because he’s new, I think he really focuses on centering students’ voices, and so initiatives that are passed through KSSG — or any concern that students have — he takes them to account,” Tiu said. “As president, it’s important to relay those messages.”

In Wednesday’s debate, Tiu also said he would “center voices around those most marginalized” and work in collaboration with the Kennedy School’s refashioned Office of Belonging, Community, and Connection — formerly known as the Office of Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging.

He will do so with the help of incoming vice president of diversity, equity, and anti-racism Ruhee Wadhwania, who said last Wednesday that KSSG would have to pick up the mantle as the University distances itself from diversity initiatives.

“I love this community and its diversity,” Wadhwania said on Wednesday. “When diversity is under attack by the Trump administration, and this office I worked with no longer exists, this KSSG position is the only thing at the school with diversity in its name.”

—Staff writer Elise A. Spenner can be reached at elise.spenner@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X at @EliseSpenner.