Students elect new VSA council, pass Constitution

Juliana Kiyan Assistant News Editor

The Vassar Student Association (VSA) spring 2006 elections results were tallied by hand on Wednesday, April 19. Students selected the 2006-2007 VSA executive board, Class of 2007, 2008, and 2009 Councils, house team leadership, Judicial Board positions, and Committee representatives.

Abel McDonnell ’07 was elected as VSA President, who emphasized the importance of strengthening the relationship between the College and Poughkeepse, an objective echoed among several of the candidates. Prior to the official announcement of election results, McDonnell said, “The first thing I would do [if elected] is sit down with the new Executive Board and see what direction they want to take VSA next year. One of my priorities is to come up with more ways Vassar can be more involved with the Poughkeepsie community, through the Community Works Campaign and having a cappella groups perform at the high school.”

Lilian Ho ’07 will serve as the VSA vice president for 2006-2007. VSA secretary-elect is Sam Charner ’08.

Kenneth Wong ’07 is next year’s VSA treasurer and ran unopposed. “I plan on working very hard with the new and existing VSA Exec Board in finishing out this academic year,” he wrote in an e-mailed statement. “I think there have been a lot of changes that have occurred this past year; some of them very good, some not as effective. However, I want to build on the momentum that has been generated by the current Board and just make the transition to launching next year's agenda that much smoother.

The VSA academic executive for 2006-2007 is Rachel Zoghlin ’07. As one of her first goals, she would like to re-examine the “Ask Students” online server.

“I'd like to encourage various Academic Departments and Majors Committees to work together to plan engaging discussions, bring fascinating speakers to campus and hold successful social events,” said Zoghlin in an e-mailed statement. “An important goal I’d like to reach with the VSA next year (hopefully!) is to encourage/institute a community involvement component for all VSA Organizations. With Cappy Hill beginning her presidential term next year, there is no time like the present to commit to bettering Vassar-Poughkeepsie relations.”

The VSA Board of Elections released the winners of the house team elections in an e-mail at noon on Wednesday rather than at the results party because of the room and suite draws that evening. While some house presidents candidates ran unopposed, others had up to three students running for the position.

“I have no doubt that Davison House will succeed in accomplishing all the goals that we set,” said newly-elected Davison House President Alberto Apodaca, Jr. ’08.

Christopher Smith ’07 was elected to the position of Jewett House president. Smith said, “I want to promote a stronger community space [for Jewett], which is often referred to as ‘Hotel Jewett,’ a kind of identification that has made the dorm a kind of an amorphous space. I would like to have dorm events that get people together and communicating with one another.”

Students voted in favor of ratifying the newly revised VSA constitution.

Voting stations were split up according to class. Members of the Classes of 2008 and 2009 voted in the All-College Dining Center, while members of the Classes of 2006 and 2007 voted in the College Center. The voting period lasted from 8 a.m. on Tuesday, April 18, to midnight on April 19. The winners were announced beginning at 9:45 p.m. at the results party held in the Retreat.

How the decision to hold paper elections will affect voter turnout remains to be seen. Last year, VSA election officials said that approximately 1,500 votes were cast.

Editor’s Note: At the time of publication, the number of students who voted was not available.