One day after the much-anticipated national midterm elections, the Student Council representative elections culminated yesterday evening with four new College representatives and one new Engineering representative.
Wyatt Robinson, David Reid, Eli Dejarnette and Ruthie Yow emerged victorious in the College, while George McArthur triumphed as a write-in candidate from the Engineering school.
Council President Micah Schwartz expressed satisfaction with the results of the elections.
"It was a hard fought race," Schwartz said. "I'm very confident about the candidates who were victorious."
According to several Council members, the dedication of the candidates to particular campaign issues created a unique race.
"What was nice about this election was that it was issue-specific and not character-specific," Schwartz said.
As a member of the black community, newly elected College representative Robinson said he seeks to focus on minority interests.
"I'd like to make a multicultural education class mandatory for every student's curriculum," Robinson said.
Robinson said he also plans to work on improving the efficiency of Escort Service, an issue that fellow representative Reid said he also is passionate about reforming.
Reid and Dejarnette, who both were active members of Council's Legislative Affairs committee prior to running for representative, said they are interested in Virginia politics, the budget crisis and the passage of the General Obligation Bond.
"Like most everyone, I'm thrilled about the bond passing," Reid said. "But first and foremost I am looking forward to making Council more of a two-way street with students."
Reid said he also plans to work with Council to modify the lease-signing process, which he feels is ridden with pressure to sign leases too early in the semester, a phenomenon he has experienced as a current first-year student.
Atima Omara-Alwala, Council vice-president for administration, said Yow is extremely interested in the fight for living wages and will be thoroughly invested in this issue as a College representative.
Approximately 15 percent of both the College and the Engineering School voted in this election. Council elections have been conducted in an online format for more than three consecutive years.
While Council Elections Chair Julie Teater noted that fall elections are normally quieter than those in the spring, she remained enthusiastic about the voter turnout.
"This fall's turnout was a little higher than last year's," Teater said. "With fliering and e-mail alerts, turnout jumps a little every year."
This slight jump in voter turnout might be a result of the high number of candidates that ran and campaigned in this election, Schwartz said.
"Clearly it's a lower turnout than you'd like to see," he said. "But this was the largest turnout we've seen in the last four years."
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