CGSU-UE ELECTIONS

My name is Andrea Aster Cicirello (she/her it/its) and I am a fourth year graduate worker in the department of Materials Science and Engineering. I have been an active organizer in Engineering since our first contract fight, a member of the Constitutional Committee after our contract was ratified, the creator and first chair of the Trans Rights Action Committee, and your current Financial Secretary. I am running for President of CGSU-UE on the Unite Everyone 2 Win slate. As we enter the bargaining year for our second contract, we need a strong, fighting union in order to secure what grads deserve and to make Cornell use their resources to support the workers that run this university. Our slate has developed a platform dedicated to harnessing union power for the fights on campus and down the hill to win at the bargaining table.

This past year during my term as Financial Secretary, I have made developing a strong strike and defense fund my top priority to support every grad on this campus as we enter bargaining. Strong financial independence strengthens us as a Union, and Cornell has shown time and time again that they will attempt to leverage financial power over us. I have made sure that our dues are in the hands of graduate workers by consistently holding Cornell accountable in their processing of deductions. As chair of the Data Committee, I have been working with Stephan Wagner to develop dues independence through a direct dues system in our own membership portal, Coyote, to ensure that grads’ dues deductions are handled correctly, swiftly, and securely. Additionally, we have made our own tools for organizing in Coyote, including administering the Bargaining Survey to make sure membership’s priorities are represented in the bargaining platform.

As a member of the Local Executive Board and founding chair of the Trans Rights Action Committee, I have prioritized developing solidarity between our union, other unions, and the Ithaca community. I attended two UE Eastern Region meetings as a delegate, and through these meetings I helped develop strong connections between our local, other grad unions like MIT-GSU, and unions across other industries including Planned Parenthood healthcare workers and Wabtech locomotive manufacturing workers. I learned how, despite our work being very different, the struggles are the same and the guiding principles of our organizing pave the way for us all to succeed. In February, with the Trans Rights Action Committee, I helped organize and spoke at a community panel held in downtown Ithaca about fighting for trans rights in our workplaces and communities. We brought together community organizers, city legislators, and union members, including inviting the president of UE Local 696, the union representing healthcare workers at the Planned Parenthood of Western Pennsylvania. These experiences have shown me the importance of the connection between our Union and the community we live in, and how those connections make us stronger in our fights against Cornell.

As we enter our second bargaining period, it is crucial that we are united across campus and with other labor unions and organizations in Ithaca. As President of CGSU-UE, my highest priority will be to develop our united front even further and apply our rank-and-file democratic principles to organize towards a strong second contract and beyond. We have already built a strong foundation, both on and off campus, and our slate Unite Everyone 2 Win is committed towards working to build upon that foundation as we bargain our second contract. I will commit to continuing this vision and I will make sure that we are in the strongest position possible as we enter bargaining to get Cornell to move on the issues most important to our members.

To learn more about our slate and our platform, visit https://www.uniteeveryone2.win.

My name is Evan Dong (they/them) and I’m a fourth-year PhD in Computer Science at Cornell Tech. I am the current Regional Lead Steward of Cornell Tech (Region 5) and have been organizing at Cornell since starting my program in Fall 2023, before which I was part of AFL-CIO staff and a member of Newsguild Local 32035. I helped organize our first card drop and union election, with regular office visits and individual conversations to hear feedback throughout Cornell Bowers. After moving to Cornell Tech, I have continued to collaborate with other organizers across departments, putting on Tech-specific info sessions on strike mobilization and bargaining updates. I am running for Vice President as part of the Unite Everyone 2 Win (UE) slate.

In the past year, my leadership at Cornell Tech has focused on growing our steward network and orienting our organizing practices toward a sustainable, inclusive culture. As a graduate worker at Tech, it is personally important to me that CGSU remembers and represents the needs of grads outside of Ithaca – whether we are in New York City, in Geneva, or abroad. This past spring, I ensured that Cornell Tech had the highest bargaining survey coverage out of all regions, with over half of all Region 5 members providing their input on Cornell Tech-specific issues and questions.

In the coming year as Vice President for Membership, my foremost goal as part of the Unite Everyone 2 Win slate is to build a united front. Within Cornell, my priority is to mend divides within our community – not only ensuring representation and communication across different campuses, but also across different backgrounds in a time where international workers have been under constant attack. Moreover, as a part of UE and the broader labor movement, a united front also means solidarity with other unions. Alongside having attended last year’s UE National Convention and multiple Eastern Regional meetings, I also aim to leverage our presence in NYC to build ties with the flourishing labor community here.

To learn more about our slate and our platform, visit https://www.uniteeveryone2.win.

My name is Stephan Wagner (he/him) and I'm a third-year graduate worker in Robotics (Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering). I am the current Regional Lead Steward for the College of Engineering (Region 4) and a proud member of CGSU-UE. I have been an active organizer since my first year on campus during our initial contract campaign and have been a steward since we ratified our industry-leading contract in April 2025. I am running for Campus Head Steward on the Unite Everyone 2 Win (UE) slate. My slate colleagues and I want to serve on our Local Executive Board to continue to build our Local as a strong, member-run union that can bring the fight to Cornell, stand up for our incredible and vibrant community of workers, and win what grads need and deserve when we return to the bargaining table this Spring.

As our current Region 4 Lead Steward, I have helped grow and train our network of fantastic, passionate stewards who represent and defend graduate workers across our Union. In February, after we elected over 120 stewards, I helped develop and lead an all-day steward training on contract enforcement, which we have since shared with other UE locals as part of the UE Education Committee. In March, I helped design and launch our bargaining survey for a second contract, which over 1000 grads from Ithaca, Geneva, and New York completed by the summer to share their bargaining priorities and help shape the campaign to make our next contract even stronger than our first. As Regional Lead, I have also led organizing and contract enforcement efforts for the College of Engineering, working with our amazing stewards to defend grads and protect our contract language on academic security, workload, compensation, free TCAT bus passes, union security, and more.

I believe wholeheartedly that through solidarity and collaboration across our Local and our industry, we can work as a united front to ensure stronger contracts and thus win better protections, benefits, and working conditions for all graduate workers. As a member of our Local Executive Board (LEB), along with fellow Unite Everyone 2 Win slate candidates Andrea Cicirello, Evan Dong, Kaori Quan, Max Fan, Jenna Marvin, and Gabe Sekeres, I have represented our union chapter at two UE regional events this year, where we helped forge connections with other UE shops, particularly our sister locals in higher education who are also entering bargaining in the coming months. Over the past year, I have worked with Andrea Cicirello to build Coyote, our own data and direct dues system, to strengthen our organizing network and our Local's finances. This month, to kick off our second contract fight, my fellow LEB members, stewards, organizers, and I delivered a petition of over 1000 signatures in support of Momodou Taal, Amandla Thomas-Johnson, and all international grads to Cornell, and launched our campaign to secure a fair share for international workers, a fair share for grads, and a fair share for our community in Ithaca.

As your Campus Head Steward, I will fight relentlessly to win the strongest possible second contract, and benefit and protect all graduate workers across our campuses in the coming year and years to come. Grads like you are the most dedicated, brilliant, and inspirational people I've ever met, but unfortunately sometimes also those most taken for granted. As Campus Head Steward, I will work to extend our organizing efforts, unite grads across our Local and our industry, and leverage our considerable power as workers to secure the top bargaining priorities adopted by our membership: international grad protections, fair living wages, full just cause, academic and research freedom, and union power!

To learn more about our slate and our platform, visit https://www.uniteeveryone2.win.

I’m Lindsey Bowen, a second year PhD in Computer Science, and I am running for Financial Secretary. I joined our union as a steward for my region at the beginning of my first year.

Before my PhD, I attended a university where graduate workers had no right to unionize due to state law. The ramifications of this severely impacted many of my friends’ lives and careers, but there was no formal mechanism to help them.

This experience made me determined to take an active role in protecting and enforcing the rights that our union won in our first contract. Since becoming a steward I have worked on grievances involving workplace accessibility, safety, and more.

A large part of what gives our union leverage to negotiate a contract which protects and increases these rights is our ability to strike. Our upcoming bargaining period makes ensuring a strong strike and defence fund crucial. If elected Financial Secretary, my priority is to ensure that going into negotiation we have the ability to support our members if a strike becomes necessary. I also want to maintain clear communication about how my colleague’s dues are being used and how these resources can support us during contract negotiation.

My name is Everlynn Khamjoi (she/her), and I am a second-year PhD in Communication. I have been involved in CGSU since my first year on campus. As a department steward, I participated in steward training, CAT meetings, and multiple office visits to speak with graduate workers to inform them about union campaigns. I am running for Recording Secretary on the Unite Everyone 2 Win (UE) slate.

For the last few months, I’ve been able to witness through active graduate workers what UE’s unique rank-and-file unionism is all about. I truly believe we are stronger together, through community, hard conversations, generative discussion, and when we simply show up.

As Recording Secretary, I will use my attention to detail to ensure minutes are recorded accurately and transparently for all graduate workers to easily access and read. Accurate and detailed minutes are critical as we enter our second bargaining period, and I do not take the potential for details to be crucial, lightly. We are stronger the more well-informed we are collectively, and as Recording Secretary, I will strive to do my part in making that an easier process.

My name is Kaori Quan and I am a third year graduate worker in the department of History. I have been involved in CGSU since my second year as a steward in my department, as well as in the role of trustee. I am running for the role of Communications Secretary for CGSU-UE on the Unite Everyone 2 Win slate because I believe all grads at Cornell deserve a unified front as we prepare to bargain our second contract in Spring 2027.

I have served as Communications Secretary for three months prior to this election. In this time, I have helped the Local Executive Board produce communications that focus on the issues that bring workers on campus together: international workers’ rights, a living wage, and job security for all. Most recently, I worked with Max Fan, Stephan Wagner, and Andrea Cicirello to create communications materials for CGSU-UE’s fall organizing campaign in coalition with allies across Ithaca calling on Cornell to repay its debts to the community. Going forward, I am committed to working with the Local Executive Board and members across the regions to improve our communications, making sure that they resonate with as many grads as possible. There is more that brings workers at Cornell together than that drives them apart: thoughtful communications help them find that common ground.

To learn more about our slate and our platform, visit https://www.uniteeveryone2.win.

My name is Cailin McMahon (she/her) and I’m a 4th year Ph.D. candidate in Molecular Biology and Genetics. I first became involved with CGSU during my second year because I strongly believe that the way we can best strengthen our community and further our scientific progress is by standing together to improve working conditions for everyone.

I was elected Area Lead Steward for the Molecular Biology and Genetics department in 2025. As Area Lead Steward, I have helped to organize informal coffee hours for any graduate worker with questions about CGSU, run informational events for incoming first years and designed flyers and pamphlets to help communicate key news items and upcoming events to Region 1 grad workers. I was also elected Trustee of CGSU in December of 2025, and I have worked closely with Andrea Cicirello, our sitting Financial Secretary, and Kaori Quan, our current Communications Secretary and former Trustee, to ensure financial records are maintained properly. Throughout my time with CGSU, I have also been heavily involved with our Social Committee, which has been responsible for many fun and solidarity-building events throughout my tenure. I was recently appointed Chair of Social Committee and I intend to continue my work promoting solidarity and joy amongst our members to further bolster our industry-leading work, as well as offering CGSU and our members chances to further embed ourselves in the Ithaca community and give back to the people and institutions that support us. Through my work with Social Committee I have worked closely alongside Stephan Wagner and Max Fan, our current Region 4 and Region 6 Lead Stewards respectively.

I am running with the Unite Everyone Slate, and have had the privilege of working closely with many of my fellow candidates.

To learn more about our slate and our platform, visit https://www.uniteeveryone2.win.

My top priorities:

-Maintaining the strength of our industry-leading first contract and further strengthening it as we go into bargaining for our second contract

I will ensure bargaining priorities are member-led by adhering closely to the ratified bargaining platform and consulting with bargaining unit members directly to ensure that proposed contract articles are aligned with the needs of our community.

I will develop and share educational materials with members of Region 1 to ensure that workers understand how proposed contract changes will affect us and our work directly.

I will understand and share the experiences of our sibling unions to allow graduate workers to make informed decisions and suggestions about their bargaining priorities.

-Building solidarity within our membership, with the broader community of Ithaca and with other unions and organizations involved in the broader labor movement

I will continue to work to host and publicize fun, informal events where graduate workers can interact with other workers from all over campus and build connections and friendships across regions and departments.

-Ensuring transparent, democratic and effective management of Union resources

I will research the resources sibling unions have required to mount a strong strike threat and ensure that we have the ability to mobilize similar resources should they become necessary.

I will make myself accessible to members to answer questions and concerns in a variety of ways, including at Regional meetings, during office visits, by appointment, and at informal social events to ensure that members are comfortable and empowered to participate in the decision making in Region 1 and to ensure our interests are represented at the bargaining table.

My name is Owen Connolly (he/him) and I am running for the regional lead steward in Region 2 on the Unite Everyone 2 Win (UE) Slate. I am a first-year PhD student in the Physics department researching accelerator physics and design. While I am new to Cornell University, I am not new to organizing in STEM. As an undergrad, I worked with other students to build our own union to protect international student rights and protections and to give students stable access to the research they want to do. Organizing and union work were a big part of my undergrad career, and they will be a big part of my graduate career as well. As lead steward of Region 2, I want to continue to work with other organizers to spread awareness of the fight of the union and why it needs to happen. I want to get more STEM graduate workers invested in the union and more involved in its processes. As grads, we’re already living on a barely adequate income for the city of Ithaca, and the current uncertainty in research funding is stretching us to our limits. It’s of the utmost importance that researchers are comfortably supported by their field-shaping work researching subjects they want to work on. As a prestigious and wealthy Ivy institution that is a world leader in STEM research, Cornell can and should do more to support and defend its workers. This includes providing legal support to students and not threatening them with expulsion when they comment on university investments. This is what I am fighting for and what I seek to bring to the table as the representative of Region 2 as CGSU goes into the bargaining process to get our second contract.

The fight doesn’t stop there, however. Our fight for rights protections and a better wage is the same fight everyone in the Ithaca community and beyond fights. To better support graduate workers and STEM researchers, I seek to work with Ithaca community members and Cornell undergraduate student movements to further the impact of the CGSU campaign to get the university to pay its fair share and more effectively defend grads in our industry.

To learn more about our slate and our platform, visit https://www.uniteeveryone2.win.

My name is Clara Marlowe (she/her), and I’m a fourth year graduate worker in Biomedical Engineering. I’m running for Regional Lead Steward in Region 4. I’ve been a supporter of CGSU-UE since bargaining for our first contract, and I’ve been involved as a steward since last fall. During this time, I’ve worked to develop relationships with graduate workers across R4 and campus in general to understand their priorities as we enter our second bargaining fight. My priorities as R4 Lead Steward are to support, represent, and unite graduate workers across all disciplines, not just engineering, and to build a strong community within Cornell and Ithaca more broadly. It’s easy for graduate workers to get caught up in their work and feel isolated, so I want to make sure that everyone in our region knows their stewards, knows their rights under our contract, and knows that they deserve more. A union is only as strong as the relationships underneath it, and I want to continue growing the kind of worker-to-worker culture that got us our first contract, so that organizing doesn’t stop the moment a fight ends. Above all, I’m committed to bargaining for a strong second contract that protects everyone, especially under our current administration and amid recent attacks on international workers. As a domestic worker, I don’t carry the same risk that many of my colleagues do in speaking out, and I intend to use that position to fight loudly and often. I’m very excited to fight for all of us at the table to win a strong second contract!

To learn more about our slate and our platform, visit https://www.uniteeveryone2.win.

I’m Max Fan (he/him), a third-year PhD in Computer Science. I am the Regional Lead Steward in Region 6 (College of Computing and Information Science) and a proud rank-and-file member of CGSU-UE. I’ve been a Trustee for the local, helped to found the Trans Rights Action Committee along with Andrea Cicirello and Katrina Davis, delegate to various UE conventions, helped to run elections for the UE Eastern Region, been a Trustee for the local, and wrote critical sections of the local’s constitution on the constitution committee.

Over the past year, I’ve trained many new organizers and spearheaded numerous grievances and organizing wins. My fellow stewards and I have worked on disability accommodations wins, the resumption of free legal consultations for international graduate workers, representation in disciplinary settings (e.g. OSCCS), and many more. Alongside Andrea, Stephan, and Jenna, I’ve played a leading role in developing our campus organizing and grievance strategy. Together, we’ve built a strong, militant local steeped in the UE principle of rank-and-file control whereby the members run the union.

My pitch is simple. When I was last running to be on the Local Executive Board, my priority was solidarity: protecting our most vulnerable members, specifically international and queer workers. Solidarity, the principle of caring for another, is the chief tool that workers anywhere have against oppression. Our priority for the upcoming year remains the same; the struggle for a fair and dignified workplace carries on. To learn more about our slate and our platform, visit https://www.uniteeveryone2.win.

My name is Saumya Monga, and I am a second-year MS worker in Industrial and Labor Relations. I am currently the R7 Lead Steward, and I am also running for that position again on the Unite Everyone 2 Win (UE) slate. Since getting involved with the union last year, I've served on several committees, including the Communications Committee, Political Action Committee, and Social Committee. Through this work, I’ve participated in several organizing campaigns, including our statement for International Solidarity with the Palestinian Liberation Struggle. As a South Asian organizer, I’m incredibly passionate about connecting international and local community concerns to our on-campus issues. This past summer, I interned for SEIU 521, where I organized immigrant Uber and Lyft drivers in California. That experience reinforced the importance of 1:1 conversations and building genuine relationships through shared struggle. I’m committed to leading with transparency, creating a safe environment where everyone is heard, and educating those in my region about resources. I’m also dedicated to advocating for all grad workers, especially for immigrant grad workers. Being a part of CGSU-UE is, at the end of the day, about community-building and increasing capacity for mutual aid. All we have is each other, and I look forward to coalition-building and fighting alongside grad workers for a strong, empowering second contract!

To learn more about our slate and our platform, visit https://www.uniteeveryone2.win.

My name is Gabe Sekeres, I’m a third-year graduate worker in Economics. I’m running to be delegate at large of CGSU-UE on the Unite Everyone 2 Win slate. I started as a department organizer in Economics, and served as financial secretary on our first Local Executive Board. I’m currently the Vice President for Membership. In that capacity, I’ve participated in the UE higher education conference board, where we meet with leadership of our sibling locals and coordinate our fights to win as much as possible. I’ve also traveled to the last three UE Eastern Region meetings and the last UE national convention – at those meetings, I’ve loved the chance to meet organizers and leaders from across the country. In particular, at the last national convention I had a chance to work on the resolutions that UE adopts as a national union. That was an incredible experience, and I had a chance to work specifically on the resolutions Restore the Right to Strike and International Solidarity. As delegate-at-large, I would attend regional meetings and national conventions, and continue to work to represent the members of CGSU-UE.

To learn more about our slate and our platform, visit https://www.uniteeveryone2.win.

My name is Jenna Marvin and I am a fifth-year graduate worker in History of Art & Visual Studies. I am running to be delegate-at-large of CGSU-UE on the Unite Everyone 2 Win (UE) slate. I’ve been organizing for our union since my first year on campus and I served as an elected member of the bargaining committee that negotiated and won our first contract with Cornell in 2025. Alongside Ewa Nizalowska and Gabe Sekeres, I organized the humanities and social sciences through our first strike threat in the spring of 2025. Since then, I have served as our first Campus Head Steward. In the last year and a half, we have organized our network of 120+ stewards and created a workflow for filing grievances and organizing around issues that will make workers’ lives at Cornell more fair and equitable. I have also been a leader of UE’s higher education Chief Steward Conference Board working group, collaborating with other local head stewards to coordinate grievance fights and bargaining issues. As delegate-at-large, I would represent CGSU-UE at regional and national meetings of our national union, United Electrical (UE). I have been to two Eastern Region UE meetings this year where I have met and worked alongside some of the labor movement’s most tireless and militant local leaders such as the leadership of Local 506 and 618 (Wabtec), Local 696 (Planned Parenthood of Western PA), Local 256 (MIT graduate workers), and many others. Over the past two years since we ratified our first contract, CGSU-UE has emerged as a leader across all of UE’s higher education locals and I am so proud of the work we have done together. As delegate-at-large I would continue to represent the membership of CGSU-UE and uphold our high standard of leadership, militancy, and member-run democracy.

To learn more about our slate and our platform, visit https://www.uniteeveryone2.win.

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