Following an inauguration ceremony on April 7, Marquette University Student Government will officially have new leadership.

Jacob Ricard and Rae Dakins were named the organization’s incoming president and executive vice president with 54% of the vote in the 2026 MUSG spring election. MUSG announced the results in a March 27 press conference after a 23-hour voting period.

“I’m super excited to be able to put all the things that I’ve been saying into actual action,” Ricard said after the announcement.

The election’s voter turnout included 25% of the student body, which Ricard and Dakins won over juniors Hawo Mohamed and Aya Khayati.

Ricard, a junior in the College of Business Administration, will assume the presidency after spending three years as a part of MUSG. He currently serves on seven committees, including the Student Engagement Committee and the Diversity, Equity and Social Justice Committee.

Dakins, a junior in the College of Arts & Sciences, is a member of ROTC and a resident assistant in Schroeder Hall. She has also spent three years with MUSG, including two years as the Arts & Sciences senator. Additionally, she previously worked on a bill offering increased access to menstrual products as the Community Engagement Committee coordinator.

Now, the pair will have the opportunity to be a voice on campus in MUSG’s highest roles. As part of the ticket’s campaign platforms, Ricard and Dakins said they will spend their term improving campus life and access to student resources.

“I need to be able to serve my fellow Marquette peers,” Dakins said. “When Jacob asked me to run with him, I thought this was the prime opportunity to be able to work together to make sure that things get done, because we need action — not just ideas.”

Changes to organizational funding

Among those intended actions, the incoming president and executive vice president expect to overhaul Student Organizational Funding over the next year, modernizing the system while making it easier to use. SOF is a process where clubs and organizations can apply to receive funding for events, made possible by the annual activity fee Marquette students pay.

Funding currently runs on the Presence system, which Ricard described as “outdated.” His administration plans to introduce an online training course to teach student leaders how to use the system, he said, as the current structure has led to SOF workers fielding an influx of emails about how to solve funding problems.

“It’s complicated; it’s not intuitive for people who are not specifically trained on it,” he said. “We really want this thing to be accessible for everybody to be able to use.”

With the overhauled system, Ricard and Dakins also plan to launch a public FAQ page to clarify details about how to access funding. Legislation to change the system is ongoing, Ricard said.

Improved student wellness policies

The two also intend to make changes to the student experience, adjusting policies for students to take sick days and increasing access to sexual health resources.

Marquette’s current attendance policy does not excuse student absences for sickness. That standard, Dakins said, does not benefit students or professors. The ticket does not yet have a clear plan for how to revise the policy, but over the past month has been communicating with Marquette’s wellness center, which Ricard called “very productive.”

At the MUSG presidential debate on March 23, Ricard described a “sexual health crisis” on Marquette’s campus, based on a 2016 study which ruled Marquette the least sexually healthy college in the nation. For Ricard and Dakins, potential solutions include low-cost contraceptives and take-home STI kits.

Greater local access to groceries

Additionally, the pair hopes to start a new tradition on campus, “Market Mondays.” Sponsored by MUSG, the weekly market would bring vendors to campus to combat disparities in food access, lowering prices while decreasing student reliance on the 16th Street Sendik’s location for groceries. 

The administration plans to target vendors that attend MUSG’s Earth Day Farmer’s Market on April 22. Those willing to return to Marquette would likely sell produce, baked goods, clothing and more on the grass between the Alumni Memorial Union and Schroeder Hall. However, the location is still being finalized, Ricard said.

Alongside Market Mondays, Ricard and Dakins hope to partner with Sodexo, Marquette’s dining services provider, to give students access to a greater variety of food products.

“It’s not practical to ask them to build a grocery store on campus,” Ricard said. “So, we’re looking for solutions that are manageable and are at low cost of the university.”

Other goals for safety, inclusion

Ricard and Dakins have also been in communication with Marquette University Police Chief Edith Hudson and are in talks of funding an additional Eagle Express shuttle, expanding the fleet from nine vans to ten in the interest of campus safety.

The two have also expressed interest in initiatives like a composting project, increasing prayer spaces on campus and working with more local businesses and museums to give students free or discounted admission.

Mohamed and Khayati campaigned on a similar platform, seeking to revise Marquette’s attendance policy, prayer spaces and the SOF allocation process. Additionally, they aimed to increase wages for student workers.

Following the announcement of the winning ticket on March 27, all four candidates exchanged pleasantries and congratulations. After trading hugs with others in the MUSG office, Ricard pulled his cell phone from his pocket and began to call family members to share the election results.

“It was a really good moment to be able to tell them that all that hard work paid off,” he said.

With the election complete, Ricard and Dakins will turn the page to a new chapter. Upon their inauguration on April 7, the pair will transition from campaigning to working on the initiatives that won them a seat atop MUSG.

“It’s been amazing to be able to talk to so many different students about so many different issues,” Ricard said. “Students want change, and we want to be their voice.”

This story was written by Lance Schulteis. He can be reached at [email protected].