SGA Special Election
Charles Herron
SGA held special elections at Wednesday’s legislature meeting to fill five Executive Board positions for the spring semester.
The legislature approved a motion to waive voting on four of the positions, all of which were uncontested.
Lauren Shapiro ‘10 was elected Vice-President for Clubs in the only contested ballot of the day, defeating Dashell Fittry ’13, the current freshman Class President.
The margin of victory is unknown because a long standing SGA policy forbids the release of election data to the public.
During statements to the legislature, Shapiro, who has no previous SGA experience, emphasized her outsider status, calling herself a “newbie,” while Fittry played up his relative youth, saying “as freshman, I think I will be able to carry on my ideas.”
“My big goal would be getting clubs to put posters up [in the Athenauem] and to have tabling in the Hyman Forum,” Shapiro told students. She also emphasized the importance of the new umbrella organizations, which encourage collaboration among clubs within similar categories, suggesting that club funding be tied to umbrella group participation.
Fittry was unfamiliar with the umbrella structure, but expressed his desire to open up umbrella meetings to a wide range of students, praising their role as centers for club creativity. He also stated his desire to increase overall club participation on campus by encouraging clubs to allow students to attend events even if they are not full members. “This will bolster student involvement in clubs, student involvement around campus, and get students more involved as the year goes by,” Fittry said.
Long time SGA Secretary Arreon Harley ‘10 was elected Vice-President for Financial Affairs. In a question period, he stated his intent to maintain the new constitutional language limiting the role of the Finance Committee to oversight of the “financial soundness” of funding requests.
Royce DuBiner ’10, currently Vice-President for Public Relations, will be reprising his role as Treasurer next semester, a position he held during the 2008-2009 academic year.
Benjamin Mueser ’12 and Jeff Bessen ’13, both relative newcomers to SGA, were elected Vice-President for Public Relations and Secretary respectively.
Mueser said that he intends to use the Public Relations committee to help students promote their work, while Bessen said that he wanted to learn more about SGA and “take a greater leadership role in the future.”
The newly elected officers will begin their terms when classes resume in January.
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