Frosh Turnout a Record High in WSA Election

The Wesleyan Student Assembly’s (WSA) first election of the academic year concluded last Friday night, with nine new freshman representatives and five at-large representatives elected, and the Concert Committee Chair approved.

The class of 2013 representatives who were elected to full-year terms included Zach Malter, Alexander Hoyle, Arya Alizadeh, Nandita Vijayaraghavan, Frank Fineis, Christian McLaren, and Miriam Kwietniewska. Joseph O’ Donnell ’13 and Noah Klein-Markman ’13 were elected to half-year terms.

In the at-large election, J. Lucas Hidalgo ’10, Josh Levine ’12 and Toni Zosherafatain ’10 each received a full-year term, while Cordelia Blanchard ’12 and Samantha Pop ’11 were elected to half-year terms. Donovan Arthen ’11 was approved as Chair of the newly created Concert Committee.

This year’s freshman election included 30 candidates—the largest number of candidates in the last six years. In addition, 489 freshmen voted in the election, representing a record 66 percent of the class. This figure is significantly greater than the 340 students who voted in the 2008 freshmen elections and the 309 students who voted in 2007.

“Frosh turnout has never been above 50 percent,” said WSA President Mike Pernick ’10. “We really only sent two e-mails, one in the beginning of the week to announce that voting was open, and then one later reminding that the polls were closing, which is less than we usually do.”

Malter, who led the freshman election winners with 167 votes, linked the enthusiasm to a more external source.

“The fact that 30 candidates ran shows how our generation is incredibly politically engaged, probably in large part due to Obama and the unprecedented way he inspired young people,” Malter wrote in an e-mail to The Argus.

Bennett Kirschner ’13, a candidate who was not elected, agrees with Malter’s sentiments.

“Post-Obamathon, we each have a stronger sense of empowerment,” Kirschner said. “Perhaps this justifies the plethora of candidates who used the iconic ‘HOPE’ poster by replacing the stoic Obama with an image of him or herself, cheesy smile at the ready.”

The at-large elections, however, had less of a turnout, with only five candidates running for exactly five available spots.

The vote to approve the Concert Committee Chair was required by WSA bylaws. As a subcommittee of the Student Budgetary Committee (SBC), the Concert Committee will be charged with allocating money for concerts on campus. These duties had previously fallen directly to the SBC but members felt that too much time was devoted to finding concert funding.

Students also had the option of filling out a student survey concerning their perceptions of the WSA.

“Ninety-one percent of the student body approved of the job we are doing,” Pernick said. “We maintain this high interest by doing what we have been doing, by continuing to stand up for students during this financially difficult time, and by finding ways to continue to improve student life on campus.”