The first eight members of the inaugural Freshman Class Council have been elected.
The election was held Wednesday night on the freshman quad. Three hundred fifty-one freshmen voted in six separate elections, one for each quad residence hall.
One seat on the new council was elected from each of the six quad residence halls, except for Gilbert Hall, from which three candidates were elected. Senior and Students? Association President John LaBoda said that the extra seats from Gilbert were due to that building?s higher number of residents.
The next four members of the council will be selected by the individual hall councils. One member each will be selected by Gilbert, Tiernan, Hoeing/Crosby and Lovejoy/Burton hall councils.
After the hall councils make their selections, the 12-member council will be able to meet for the first time. ?It?s a cumbersome election process,? said LaBoda, ?but it?s to ensure that it succeeds.?
?Hopefully we?ll be up and running within two weeks,? said junior Lonny Mallach, LaBoda?s Chief of Staff.
The first order of business for the council will be to elect officers. It will elect a president, vice president, secretary and business manager, all of whom may or may not be original members of the council.
Freshmen not elected to the council may become full voting members by attending three consecutive meetings.
Freshman Stacey Poloskey came in third place in the Hoeing election. ?I tried to knock on doors and talk to people, but I definitely could have done more,? she said.
Despite losing in the popular election, Poloskey plans to join the council. She had high hopes for the council?s beginning. ?Because it?s new, it?s important that the freshman class has a strong start,? she said. ?It?s our responsibility to start new traditions and I hope that the Freshman Class Council can do that this year.?
Eighty extra-large pizzas were served to freshman voters. ?The free pizza was very important to get people down there,? freshman Monica Reyhanis said.
Reyhani received 91 votes in the Gilbert election, more than any other candididate in any of the six elections.
The Students? Association Senate allotted $5,000 to the council. ?I hope to use the money to keep the freshman class unified throughout the entire year,? said Reyhani.
The council was a main point in LaBoda?s campaign for SA President last spring. Also promised are class councils for the sophomore and junior classes. The senior class already has a class council.
LaBoda said the council has no set purpose. ?The freshman class council is going to do what they want to do,? he said. ?They can do leisure programming or academic programming. It?s their prerogative.?
?Our main goal in creating this was so the freshmen could get connected to student government,? said junior Matt Fearnside, who is the cabinet member responsible for the council.
Bock can be reached at dbock@campustimes.org.
