Author: Jessica Gelzer
This past Friday, Oxy students elected new representatives to the Associated Students of Occidental College (ASOC). The newly elected first-year senators are Jessie Durret and Kyle Boers. Joining Honor Board after an uncontested race is Corrine Casey (sophomore). Lia Ballard was voted Senior Class Senator.
Elections for first-years happen at the beginning of each fall. The Honor Board position was available this semester to give a chance to any first-years interested in joining. While senior class senator is usually voted upon in Spring semester, only one candidate, Alex Safranski, ran for the position, leaving the second seat open to be voted upon this fall.
456 students voted for first-years, 238 for Honor Board and 22 for Senior Class senator. “For a student body that prides itself on having a strong sense of community as well as being politically active, I was surprised to learn that so few are interested in the elections,” said Casey. “If more students were running, I think the elections would garner a lot more attention.”
The six first-year candidates delivered speeches in the Quad on Tuesday, Sept. 8 during lunch. Lauren Wemple, David Sacci, Daniel Wolf, Kyle Boers, Jonathan Vaval and Jessie Durret took to the microphone to tell their fellow first-years why they should be elected. Some spoke of their experience in student government, like Boers, who was elected class president at his high school.
Others did not have a political resume, such as Wolf, who sees college as a fresh start and an opportunity to get more involved in the community. “I always regretted not participating in student government in high school and it seems like such a great thing to be able to provide your fellow students with a voice to the school administration and to be able to play an active role in decisions being made that affect all of us,” said Wolf.
Campaigning continued throughout the week. Vaval had a friend doing front-flips for him and Wemple had her friends passing out tootsie pops, with a sign that read, “Shake your tootsie roll and vote Lauren Wemple.”
Sacci said, “I’ve tried to make this as paperless a campaign as possible, making announcements and going by word of mouth.”With winners announced and the election at a close, the ASOC can begin planning for the school year. “I want to make a positive impact at Oxy during my four years, and becoming senator is a great way for me to use my skills for the benefit of all Oxy students and community members,” said Durret.
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