The fall WSA elections began on Monday morning and will remain open for voting until Friday. A total of 34 students are running for WSA positions; 21 of them are competing for nine frosh positions and 13 are competing for seven at-large seats.
“This is the largest number of students running for elections in WSA history,” said WSA President Emily Polak ’05.
“I think it’s great that students are excited about the WSA and I think that the competition will force people to really consider who should represent them and who they trust,” said Vijay Chaudhuri ’07, who is running for an at-large position.
Karen Courtheoux ’05, a veteran WSA member who lost to Polak in last spring’s election for WSA president, is running for an at-large position this year.
“I am looking forward to hopefully representing Wesleyan students for one more year, and to pass on some of my experience and expertise to new students,” Courtheoux said.
Students are also being asked to vote on-line to pass minor changes to the WSA constitution, which were proposed last spring.
The adjustments include making pronouns in the constitution gender neutral, implementing formal rules about the appointment of interim chairs over the summer and correcting an old error in the number of at-large representatives elected in the fall semester.
An additional adjustment would involve changing the wording of the terms and elections of members of the Student Budget Committee in order to clarify the meaning.
“I think [the updated constitution] is far more in accordance with the needs of the current student population, as they give more control to the student assembly, and consequentially, the student body, in remaining well aware of policies on campus over the summer, and in exercising greater [student] voice on issues,” Polak said.
Polak said the WSA Constitution was last revised more than four years ago and she is confident that students will vote to amend the constitution this week.
According to WSA interim coordinator Ali Gomer, in order for the updated constitution to be adopted, two-thirds of students who vote, beginning Monday and ending Friday just before midnight, must elect to ratify the proposed changes. Students can vote by going to the WSA voting website at wsavoting.wesleyan.edu;the proposed amended constitution can be viewed at this site as well.
Polak maintains that one of the more notable proposed changes to the constitution, the switch to the use of gender pronouns, “hir” and “ze,” did not come about in response to pressure from any student or student group.
“The gender neutral pronouns were not changed due to pressure from anyone, but rather, as a response to needing to be inclusive in our constitution to all members of the community at Wesleyan,” Polak said.
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