Joint committee adopts procedures, recommends slates for University of Minnesota Board of Regents seats

A joint legislative committee charged with recommending University of Minnesota Board of Regents candidates adopted its 2025 joint meeting procedures and, after multiple rounds of voting, recommended slates for three contested seats to the joint convention.

The committee approved rules drafted by House Research and Senate Counsel that set the order of consideration, nomination thresholds and voting procedures; then the panel heard one-minute presentations from candidates and conducted multi-round roll-call votes that ended with slates for the student-at-large seat, the Fifth Congressional District seat and the two at-large seats being forwarded to the joint convention.

The rules adopted require that the committee consider candidates in a set order (student at-large first, the 5th Congressional District, then two at-large seats), allow RCAC-recommended candidates to be automatically nominated, and set nomination and recommendation thresholds requiring a majority of members present in each chamber. Mr. Hopkins of House Research summarized the process for members, noting the rules allow short presentation time, a 15-minute question-and-answer period and procedures for sequential elimination if candidates receive zero or the lowest votes in a round.

The committee then moved to candidate presentations and formal roll-call voting. For the student-at-large slot, the committee heard one-minute presentations from student candidates including Dylan Young (a master's student at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs), Flora Yang (a second-year medical student and former undergraduate student body president) and Khosar Mohammed (a second-year doctoral student in natural resources and adjunct instructor). After a 15-minute question-and-answer period, the committee conducted multiple rounds of roll-call votes. No candidate achieved the separate House and Senate majorities needed to be named alone; after three rounds the committee voted to recommend both Dylan Young and Flora Yang to the joint convention as a slate. The clerks announced the final approving totals for the slate as 14 ayes in the House and 9 ayes in the Senate.

On the Fifth Congressional District seat, the committee considered nominees including Robert Albright, Benjamin Kaplan and Ellen Lugar; Khosar Mohammed was added as a nominee by Senator Umu Verbaten. Members asked yes-or-no and substantive questions about public comment at regent meetings, legacy admissions and the university's financial and medical system challenges. After multiple rounds of roll-call voting produced no single nominee meeting the separate-majority threshold, the committee recommended Benjamin Kaplan and Khosar Mohammed as a slate to the joint convention. The committee recorded 14 ayes in the House and 8 ayes and 1 nay in the Senate for that motion.

For the two at-large seats the committee accepted one-minute presentations from a larger field (including Jamal Adam, Jeffrey Edinger, John Gibbs, Scott Nagel, Anne Sheldon and Dan Walter among others), conducted question-and-answer periods, and proceeded to multiple roll-call vote rounds. Because no candidates reached the required separate-majority threshold after repeated rounds, the committee moved to recommend the remaining candidates as a slate. The clerks recorded 14 ayes in the House and 9 ayes in the Senate on the motion forwarding the slate of candidates (Adam, Sheldon, Gibbs and Walter) to the joint convention.

Votes at a glance

- Adoption of 2025 joint meeting committee procedures (motion: adopt the 2025 joint meeting committee procedures drafted by House Research and Senate Counsel). Outcome: adopted. (Recorded voice vote; formal roll call not recorded in transcript.)

- Student-at-large seat (motion: recommend candidate(s) to joint convention). Outcome: slate recommendation — Dylan Young and Flora Yang recommended to joint convention as a slate. Final recorded approval: 14 ayes (House), 9 ayes (Senate). Notation: Khosar Mohammed was eliminated/dropped during the rounds; one candidate (Madeline Rowe) had withdrawn before presentations.

- Fifth Congressional District seat (motion: recommend candidate(s) to joint convention). Outcome: slate recommendation — Benjamin Kaplan and Khosar Mohammed recommended to joint convention as a slate. Final recorded approval: 14 ayes (House), 8 ayes and 1 nay (Senate).

- Two at-large seats (motion: recommend candidate(s) to joint convention). Outcome: slate recommendation — Jamal Adam, Anne Sheldon, John Gibbs and Dan Walter recommended to the joint convention as a slate. Final recorded approval: 14 ayes (House), 9 ayes (Senate).

What the committee said and asked

Mr. Hopkins of House Research outlined the adopted rules at the start of the meeting, describing nomination thresholds, one-minute presentations, 15-minute Q&A blocks and the multi-round elimination process. During candidate questioning, members pressed candidates on issues the University faces including college affordability, student basic needs, mental health services, and the future of the university medical system. Representative Noor asked student-at-large candidates to name their top three priorities; Dylan Young answered, “college affordability, student basic needs, and public engagement,” and described campus visits to all five system campuses.

Flora Yang highlighted affordability, basic needs and mental health in her answers and urged systemwide inclusion of the five campuses in strategic planning. Khosar Mohammed described concerns about budget diversification and the potential for commercialization and community-facing partnerships. Candidate Jamal Adam said a regent’s main role is “providing oversight and strategic guidance to the university,” while other at-large candidates discussed campus safety, fiscal oversight and the role of the board in strategic planning.

Process and next steps

By the committee’s rules, the joint committee’s recommendations are forwarded to the joint convention for final selection of regents. The committee repeatedly used sequential roll-call ballots as prescribed by its adopted procedures; when no single candidate met the separate House and Senate majorities required to be recommended alone, the committee voted to forward the remaining candidates as slates. The meeting concluded with the slates recommended to the joint convention and the committee adjourned.

Note on transcript spellings and procedure

Names and spellings in the transcript varied in places; the article uses consistent spellings as spoken in the meeting and as presented in candidates’ on-record statements. Where vote totals were announced, the article uses the tallies the clerks announced on the record.