Student Body Elects 2025-’26 Program Board President Amid Club Controversy -

By Anthony Curioso

To conclude a year marked by significant controversy for the CUA Program Board (PB) over its spending on events that were allegedly poorly attended, the student body voted on April 8 for the next PB president. Voting took place from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Election Day, alongside the SGA Executive Board election, which also occurred during the same hours and provided the same voting options: in-person voting at the Pryzbyla Center or online voting via the Nest website.

This year is not the first time the PB presidential election has coincided with the SGA executive board election. The most recent instance occurred in April 2022, when students voted for these positions for the 2022-23 school year. Dominic Decker, a 2023 CUA alumnus, was elected as the new PB president during that election.

Brooke Stromberg, a rising senior majoring in criminology, and Reagan Budasi, a rising senior double majoring in social work and psychology, were candidates for the PB presidency in the election held on April 8. Both have completed three years of service on PB; Budasi joined in the first semester of her freshman year, while Stromberg became a member the following spring.

During her tenure with PB, Stromberg has held the positions of programming assistant, programming co-chair, and programming vice president. Meanwhile, Budasi currently serves as the co-chair of graphic design and social media for PB, having previously served as vice president of programming last year and as a member of the in-person event promotional team, known as the “street” team, the year before.

In addition to their respective PB roles, Stromberg and Budasi are significantly involved in various other areas of campus. Stromberg serves as the secretary of the CUA Best Buddies chapter and is about to enter her third year as an Orientation Advisor. Budasi has been a Resident Assistant in Flather Hall for the past two years.

Stromberg and Budasi announced equally ambitious goals for their tenure as PB presidents before the election. These goals included increasing student involvement, collaborating with other student organizations and university departments, and completely overhauling how students can provide feedback on PB events.

These two women shared a goal that the other did not mention in her “goals” post. For Stromberg, this goal was to cultivate the board’s internal strength, inspired by the PB motto, “work hard, play harder.” For Budasi, the distinct goal emphasized in her Instagram post was to revamp the weekly “Happenings” emails, which outline all the events occurring each week across departments and student organizations.

Outgoing Program Board President Kiera Shanahan, a senior majoring in nursing, announced the PB presidential election results at 10 p.m. on election day, just before senior politics major and Student Body President Jeffrey Lance revealed the SGA results. Ultimately, Stromberg emerged as the victor in the Program Board presidential election.

It will undoubtedly be fascinating to observe how Stromberg supports PB next year in addressing the controversy that affected the organization this year. The timeline for opening and submitting applications for the PB seats that will soon become vacant remains unclear.