Past Administrations & Fun Facts

Over the past two decades, the Judicial Council has benefited from strong, ethical, and accountable leadership. These remarkable students each worked tirelessly and thanklessly to uphold the Student Union Constitution and build better student representation across Notre Dame.

To learn more about a specific Judicial Council administration or officer, click on the term year.

Table Information

Term	J.C. P.	Parl.	J.C. V.P. E.	J.C. V.P. P.A.	J.C. V.P. O.	Hist
2025-2026	Elijah Jones	Sam Robinson	Madeline Hutson	Akash Nooka	Caroline Murphy	Monica Sayler
2024-20255	Hunter Brooke  (April 2024 - December 2024) Elijah Jones (January 2025 -April 2025)	Thomas Musgrave	Luke Monson (April 2024 - September 2024)4 Madison Denchfield (September 2024 - April 2025)4	Serena Melonio	Madison Denchfield (April 2024 - September 2024)3, 4 Madeline Hutson (September 2024 - April 2025)3, 4	Elijah Jones (April 2024 - January 2025)3 Monica Sayler (January 2025 - April 2025)
2023-2024	Koryn Isa	Hunter Brooke	Ryn Weiss	Thomas Musgrave	N/A	N/A
2022-2023	Madison Nemeth	Jared Schlachet	Koryn Isa	Sophonie Alcindor	N/A	N/A
2021-2022	David Haungs	Madison Nemeth	Koryn Isa	Allison Sharp	N/A	N/A
20212	Thomas Davis IIMP	Madison Nemeth	David Haungs	Tiffany Sanchez	N/A	N/A
20202	Matthew Bisner	Thomas Davis IIMP	David Haungs	Tiffany Sanchez	N/A	N/A
2019-2020	Halena HadiMP	Thomas Davis IIMP	Matthew Bisner	Alina Peterson	N/A	N/A
2018-2019	Shady Girgis	Halena Hadi*MP	Ellen Pil	Will Huffman	N/A	N/A
2017-2018	Matthew RossMP	Colin Brankin*	Shady Girgis	Myria Zambas	N/A	N/A
2016-2017	Caitlin GearyMP	Monica Montgomery*	Matthew Ross	Phil Pickering	N/A	N/A
2015-2016	Zach WatersonMP	Sara Dugan*	Caitlin Geary	Brenden Forte	N/A	N/A
2014-2015	Dr. Kathryn Peruski	Carolina Ramirez*	Caitlin Geary	Peter Rodgers	N/A	N/A
2013-2014	Michael Masi	Mariana Stanson*	Dr. Kathryn Peruski	Erin O'Brien	N/A	N/A
2012-2013	Michael Thomas	Lauren Vidal*	Katie Hennessy	Taylor Sticha	N/A	N/A
2011-2012	Susanna Sullivan	Michael Masi*	Cait Ogren	Morgan Pino	N/A	N/A
2010-2011	Marcelo Perez	Benjamin Noe*	Michael Thomas	Susanna Sullivan	N/A	N/A
2009-2010	Ian Secviar	Paige Becker*	Marcelo Perez	Jean Namkung	N/A	N/A
2008-2009	George Chamberlain	X	Marcelo Perez	Christina Harmon	N/A	N/A
2007-2008	Ashley Weiss	Tyler Smith*	Danny Smith	Anthony Dayrit	N/A	N/A
2006-2007	Liz Kozlow	X	Anthony Dayrit	Gina Dolan	N/A	N/A
2005-2006	James LeitoMP,IC	Chris Hollon*	Peter VanLoon	John Trippi	N/A	N/A
2004-2005	Brin Anderson	X	Dr. Karsten SteinhaeuserIC	Meagan Powers	N/A	N/A
2003-2004	Elliot Poindexter	James Terelli*	X	X	N/A	N/A
2002-2003	Danielle Ledesma	Ricky Sadowski*	Matt Corgan	Matthew Kohley	N/A	N/A
2001-20021	Tim Jarotkiewicz	Danielle Ledesma*	John McCarthy	Nikki DePersis, Susan Wong, Kathryn Anderson, Ricky Sadowski	N/A	N/A

The past and present Judicial Council officers listed above are an incredibly diverse and accomplished group. Below are some notable statistics and achievements of theirs!

• 6 out of the past 24 Judicial Council Presidents have won the Michael J Palumbo Award, which is given annually to a member of the undergraduate student body for outstanding service and dedication to the Notre Dame Student Union.
• Koryn Isa (2023-2024) and Caitlin Geary (2016-2017) are the only two Judicial Council Presidents to have served for two full terms as Judicial Council Officers before becoming President, each serving twice as Vice President of Elections.
• 2001-2002 Vice President of Elections John McCarthy, is the only Judicial Council Officer to have been part of one of the University of Notre Dame’s ROTC programs, serving as a midshipman in Navy ROTC.
• The most common professions of Judicial Council Officers after graduation are within the fields of Law, Finance, or Engineering.
• Only two Judicial Council Officers have been the recipient of the prestigious Irish Clover Award: the 2004-2005 Vice President of Elections, Karsten Steinhaeuser and the 2005-2006 Judicial Council President James Leito.
• Danielle Ledesma (2002-2003) was the first Judicial Council President to have previously served on the Judicial Council. After her term, no Judicial Council Presidents served that had previously been on the Council until Marcelo Perez (2010-2011), after whom all but one President (Zach Waterson, 2015-2016) served as President after first serving as an officer within the Council.
• Two former Judicial Council Officers have gone on to earn a PhD: Dr. Karsten Steinhaeuser (2004-2005 Vice President of Elections), and Dr. Kathryn Peruski (2013-2014 Vice President of Election, 2014-2015 President).
• James Leito (2005-2006) won the Palumbo Award, Irish Clover Award, and became Judicial Council President all in the same year!
• Susanna Sullivan (2011-2012) is the only Vice President of Peer Advocacy to become Judicial Council President, and she also holds the distinction of being the only Judicial Council President to also be a professional marathon runner.
• Matty Bisner (2020) is the only Judicial Council President to become Student Body Vice President, while Elijah Jones (2025 and 2025-2026) is the only Judicial Council President to become Student Body President.
• In the 2021-2022 term, four Judicial Council Presidents were members of Senate at the same time: Matty Bisner (2020) as Student Body Vice-President, Thomas Davis (2021) as Off-Campus President, David Haungs (2021-2022) as Judicial Council President, and Madison Nemeth (2022-2023) as Student Union Parliamentarian.
• Madeline Hutson (2024-2025) holds the distinction of youngest Judicial Council Officer, with Monica Sayler (2025) being a close second.
• The Student Union Historian position was created in the 2024-2025 term. The first two Student Union Historians (Elijah Jones (2024) and Monica Sayler (2025 and 2025-2026)) went on to become Judicial Council President. Interestingly enough, Elijah gave Monica her oath of office to become Judicial Council President, then immediately after this happened, Monica gave Elijah his oath of office to become Student Body President!