The Wesleyan Student Assembly (WSA) welcomed 13 new members into its ranks on Sunday in a four-hour, closed-door meeting. The new members enter the assembly with an already-impressive resume, having just competed in a historic election that included the largest field of candidates and highest voter turnout in recent memory.
Cesar Medina ’09, Alexandra San Roman ’11, Amy Blume ’11, Siriwan Luangthanahiran ’11 and Joanna Seirup ’11 were elected to the five at-large seats. The freshman class elected Cordelia Blanchard ’12, Benjamin Firke ’12, Adam Ilowite ’12, Adam Fishman ’12, Meherazade Sumariwalla ’12, Genevieve Hutchings ’12, Greer Dent ’12 and Aubrey Hamilton ’12 as their representatives.
Candidates used a variety of campaign tactics and insisted that the most important way to win the election was name recognition. Many made Facebook groups and events, talked to their friends, and plastered dorms, bathroom stalls and campus boards with signs.
More than 527 students voted in the at—large election, the highest turnout ever. In the freshman election, 340 students voted, the largest turnout since the fall of 2004. WSA President Mike Pernick ’10 thought that this year’s turnout reflected the WSA’s larger push for what he called an unprecedented level of engagement.
“It’s trickling down to the entire student body,” Pernick said. “That’s why we’ve had an extraordinary number of candidates. There are a lot of people who want to get involved. I think this election demonstrates that.”
WSA Coordinator Bradley Spahn ’11 said that the new representatives have already begun bringing fresh ideas to the organization.
“They are a smart, talented [group], they care a lot about student government—and it’s a genuinely diverse group,” Spahn said.
Representatives were given their first impression of the organization in Tuesday’s marathon meeting to conduct internal elections for committee posts.
“Obviously, I wish it could have possibly been cut shorter, but the things we did were very necessary,” said Roman. “I had never been to a meeting before…I had been imagining people sitting in a circle talking, and it was very different. I didn’t know how procedural the meetings were.”
Pernick called the meeting the most eager and exciting internal election that he has seen in his three years on the WSA and saw the meeting as just another sign of a resurgent student assembly.
For many of the freshman representatives, the election has been a whirlwind of excitement. Having just arrived on campus a few weeks a go, the Class of 2012 is still adjusting to the Wesleyan campus. However, it already has a major accomplishment under its belt and, for some of its members, a major commitment to add to their schedules.
“I’ve been running for student government since the third grade, and always coming up short,” said Firke. “I’m sort of astounded [by this election] and the possibilities that the WSA has.”
The WSA leadership has made outreach to the freshman class a high priority this year. Members visited every freshman dorm, and the Executive Committee met with each candidate. The newly elected freshman representatives had an “intensive” brunch with the Executive Committee on Sunday to discuss the specifics of what the new representatives are expected to do and how the WSA functions.
“We’ll continue to meet with freshman and new members to make sure they have a good grasp of what it means to be good WSA members,” Pernick said.
Firke expressed his enthusiasm for collaborating with the Executive Committee.
“[They’re] on-task and diligent…they’re going to be a lot of fun to work with,” he said.
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