Sial, Thompson Elected Harvard Undergraduate Association Co-Presidents

Updated April 4, 2025, at 1:23 p.m.

Abdullah Shahid Sial ’27 and Caleb N. Thompson ’27 will serve as the next co-presidents of the Harvard Undergraduate Association, according to a Friday HUA Election Commission email to all candidates obtained by The Crimson.

The winning pair emerged from a race of six co-presidential tickets, with student voters required to order all six choices in a ranked-choice voting system. Sial and Thompson beat runners-up Tsion A. Daniel ’27 and Sahil Sood ’27 in the fifth and final round by 333 votes. Candidate pair Omosefe I. Noruwa ’27 and Matthew R. Tobin ’27 came in third place.

The pair won a plurality in all five voting rounds, beginning with 35.49 percent of the vote in the first round, or 691 votes.

Though four of the other candidate slates featured students who have previously held HUA officer or executive cabinet positions, Sial and Thompson are newcomers to Harvard’s student government.

The pair ran on the platform that the HUA should not be the “administration’s mouthpiece” and have called for a constitutional amendment to allow the association to “take a position” on issues that affect Harvard College students.

At Wednesday’s HUA presidential debate, Sial said the constitutional amendment would allow the body to demonstrate solidarity with student opinions on pressing current issues.

“It’s about students feeling scared to speak their minds when your international neighbors are scared that something might happen, when you’re scared about people around you who could be arrested at any point,” Sial said at the debate, adding that he is an international student from Pakistan.

According to Friday’s email, 1,947 ballots were cast in the election, representing a 34 percent increase in voter participation from the 2024 election.

The email announced eight other executive officer positions alongside the co-presidency, including Co-Treasurers Daniel Zhao ’28 and Rachel M. Fields ’27, Academic Officer Hyunsoo Lee ’28, Extracurricular Officer Joshua M. Schultzer ’28, Residential Life Officer Isabelle G. Agarwal ’28, Inclusion Officer Coby T. Hayes ’28, Well-Being Officer Joshua T. Eneji ’28, and Social Life Officer Dillion A. Dukes ’28.

Eneji, Hayes, and Schultzer all ran unopposed for their seats on the HUA’s executive team.

This year’s HUA election featured no down-ballot questions or referenda.

Correction: April 4, 2025

A previous version of this article misspelled the name of Rachel M. Fields ’27.

Clarification: April 12, 2025

A previous version of this article stated that Abdullah Shahid Sial ’27 and Caleb N. Thompson ’27 called for the Harvard Undergraduate Association to adopt an amendment allowing it to “take a position” on political issues. To clarify, Sial and Thompson have said they believe the HUA should be able to take positions on issues affecting student life — including the revocation of student visas, lack of access to recess housing for international students, and course registration timing — but should not adopt stances on external political issues that divide the student body.

—Staff writer Claire L. Simon can be reached at claire.simon@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X @ClaireSimon.