Student Council held its annual inauguration ceremony Sunday in the Chapel to swear in officers elected by the student body in February and reflect on the past Student Council term. Approximately 40 people attended the ceremony, most of them current, incoming or outgoing Student Council members.
Third-year College student Ellie Brasacchio was sworn in as Student Council president. Brasacchio defeated first-year Curry student Arabella Lee for the position of president, winning 89.1 percent of the votes, compared to Lee’s 10.9 percent. Brasacchio ran on a ticket with third-year College student Taylor Overton and second-year College student Shefalika Prasad, who both ran unopposed for Student Council vice president for administration and Student Council vice president for organizations, respectively. Overton and Prasad were also sworn in Sunday.
“Our campaign slogan was ‘an accessible future,’ and that is what we aim for today,” Brasacchio said. “We want to make this University a little better than it was when we got here. We want to make sure that the next group of students that walk these grounds have the resources they need and have the encouragement that I did to take risks and go for it.”
Brasacchio is succeeding fourth-year College student Alex Cintron. She has served on Student Council since her first year at the University and previously served as the chair of the Representative Body.
Before the newly elected officers were sworn in, Cintron took some time to reflect on his vision for Student Council and how the organization has changed since his first year at the University. According to Cintron, Student Council has transitioned from an organization primarily focused on addressing community concerns to an organization primarily focused on policy initiatives.
“I wanted Student Council to be bold and to focus on policy, not just programming or something that another CIO [Contracted Independent Organization] could do, but things that people would expect from government,” Cintron said. “If we have the capacity to do something, we should.”
Cintron added that the Representative Body has been more active this past term than in any other year since he has served on Student Council. Cintron also recounted some of the accomplishments of his administration, including the creation of a Student Police Advisory Board, an initiative to provide free menstrual hygiene products in bathrooms around Grounds and working with student minority groups.
Ty Zirkle, fourth-year College student and outgoing vice president for organizations, encouraged the incoming administration to stay dedicated.
“What you do and say today counts,” Zirkle said. “Every single word of it.”
Brasacchio then swore in the newly elected representatives for each of the University’s schools.
After the ceremony Sunday, representatives also elected first-year College student Isabella Liu to serve as the new chair of the Representative Body.
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