By Bill Shaner, News Staff
The Student Government Association (SGA) elected the remainder of its executive board and other officials at the senate meeting last Thursday.
An internal restructure earlier this year bumped the amount of elected positions outside the president to the seven following positions: executive vice president, vice president for student affairs, vice president for student involvement, vice president for student services, vice president for academic affairs, the comptroller – the position that handles finances – and the chair of Elections Committee.
Of the seven positions, only Elections Committee chair saw a contested election. Still, the meeting lasted four and a half hours as each candidate gave a speech outlining his or her goals, took questions from the senate and left the room as the senate discussed the candidate’s positive and negative attributes.
Sean Maloney, the current vice president for student services, ran uncontested for executive vice president, a second-in-command role within senate. His responsibilities will include handling large projects and initiatives and also communication with the student body.
He won by a vote of 25 for him, five write-in votes (votes for people who didn’t intend to run) for current Vice President for Academic Affairs Amanda Sabia and 10 write-in votes for current Vice President for Student Affairs Derek Miller. Both Miller and Sabia had previously declined to run for an SGA executive board position after Sabia lost the SGA presidential election to Ryan Fox.
Maloney touted his experience as both vice president for student services and as a resident assistant and his good working relationship with President Ryan Fox. As for next year, he plans to create a guidebook to senate, with profiles, pictures and general information for senators and guests, because, he said, “you should not have to be a senator with years of experience to feel comfortable expressing your concerns in the chambers.”
Current Assistant Vice President for Academic Affairs Michael Sabo won Vice President for Academic Affairs with 46 votes for him and, again, a write-in vote for Sabia and a write-in for Miller.
He said he hopes to expand the honors program, particularly in the amount of honors classes offered. He also hopes to forge new and better working relationships with the administration.
“We have made great strides in the realm of academics,” he said. “However, we cannot accept the status quo, we need to continue to improve this university for everyone.”
Senator Andrew Phenix ran for comptroller, a role that will handle distribution of the student activities fee and other general financial matters. He won with 38 votes for him. Five votes were write-ins for current Vice President for Administration and Public Relations Tim Siclari.
Phenix said he plans to “demystify” the Budget Review Committee – the committee that oversees student activities fee use – and said he plans to “put his bias aside” while determining what gets funded with the student activities fee.
Senator Ashley Caron, a current member of the Student Affairs Board, won an uncontested election for Vice President for Student Affairs.
Some critics said her involvement with other student groups, like her president role within the a cappella group Distilled Harmony, would pose too much of a time constraint. Nevertheless, she was elected over a no-confidence vote or write-ins.
As for next year, she plans to improve relationships with the Office of Student Conduct and Conflict Resolutions and improve the university’s ticketing system.
Mallorey Brown was elected to Vice President for Student Involvement by a slim margin of 19 for her and 18 for no confidence.
She said part of why she was qualified was because she has served in multiple areas of SGA, including the Student Affairs Board, Budget Review Committee and as assistant vice president for student affairs. Some critics, however, said they saw that as not being able to stay in one place.
She also said she hoped to me more fair toward all student groups, not just fraternities and sororities. She cited Greek Week getting three nights in Blackman Autitorium by default as a specific example. Critics of this argued that fraternities and sororities were treated fairly in the past.
Current Assistant Vice President for Student Services Will Pett was elected to Vice President for Student Services, a job that deals with food services, facilities and housing.
He said he hoped to form a stronger bond with Resident Student Association (RSA), due in part to a good working relationship with its Vice President for Housing Services Stephen McBride, also an SGA member.
He also said he hoped to expand gender-neutral housing into apartment style units.
In the only contested election of the night, Olivia D’Angelo beat Chrissy Judah for chair of Elections Committee by a vote of 30 for D’Angelo and 12 for Judah.
The chair of Elections Committee is responsible for overseeing the election committee, which oversee all SGA election processes.
D’Angelo promoted her public relations and commincation ability where as Judah touted her organization and task management.
Overall, President Ryan Fox feels that next year’s executive board turned out strong.
“The new e-board might be a little more welcoming to new faces,” he said. “They have a lot of experience but they also have a lot broader range of involvement outside of senate, which I think will really help.”
-News Staff Lauren DiTullio contributed to this report.
