With 472 students voting, this year’s turnout was the highest in Scripps College Associated Student (SAS) election history. The election was for SAS’s 2013-2014 Executive Board and Programming Board leadership positions, and results were announced Saturday, March 30, with run-off results announced Monday, April 1 and Wednesday, April 3.
The election decided 17 SAS positions. Marta Bean SC ’14 was elected SAS President, and Alex Frumkin SC ’15 was elected SAS Vice President.
“I’ve had amazing experiences on SAS, and I love being involved. I’m excited that I’ll be able to give back in a bigger way next year,” Bean said. “I can’t wait to see the changes that the new SAS brings with new faces in it.”
In a run-off election for the Campus Activities Chair, Lauren Halberg SC ’14 was announced the winner on the evening of Monday, April 1.
Emily Jovais SC ’13, the current SAS president, won the position of Recent Graduate Trustee, which was announced on Wednesday evening following a run-off election between Jovais and Jasmine Johnson SC ’13.
Apart from having the highest turnout, this year’s election was also SAS’s first election that did not require students to opt in to commit to voting two weeks before the election. Alexa Kopelman SC ’13, the current vice president of SAS and the chair of the Election Committee, made it her priority from the beginning of the school year to make the voting process easier and more accessible to students.
“The goal this year was to encourage a sense of empowerment in students,” Kopelman said. “Students pay a fee each year for SAS, and the elected leaders will decide what to do with these fees. Not voting means that students give up the chance to have a say in the way that money will be used.”
Kopelman, along with the seven other students on the Election Committee, made an effort beginning in January and February of this year to make voting more visible. They made an online video, large vinyl signs, and a timeline of the year’s election in order to encourage students to run and vote.
“I don’t want students to give up on a chance to choose important leaders, representatives, and liaisons who will enact important changes on campus,” Kopelman said. “I want to put students in control of their time here.”
Since there was no opt-in, Kopelman and the Election Committee had to cross-check the names and ID numbers of every student who voted Saturday in order to prevent counting the votes of students who voted multiple times or whose names and ID numbers did not match.
The position of Recent Grad Trustee had the most candidates; six students were running before one withdrew her campaign. It is a three-year long position that gives the recent alumna a position on the Board of Trustees representing the student body.
Kopelman says that it is normal for many students to run for this position.
“At this time of year, most seniors are not ready to leave Scripps yet,” she said. “The Recent Grad Trustee position allows students to be a part of Scripps for a while longer.”
Bean, the rising SAS president, said during her campaign that her goals included working with the school administration to reevaluate financial aid options for undocumented students and changing the Scripps e-mail provider from Novell to Gmail.
The other winners of the election were: Francesca Simmons SC ’14 as Student Activities Chair, Theresa Iker SC ’14 as Secretary, Maddie Ripley SC ’14 and Casey Maas SC ’14 as Co-Treasurers, Leah Soffer SC ’14 as Judicial and Academic Review Chair, Mia Pecora SC ’14 as Clubs and Organizations Chair, Leah Hocheburg SC ’14 as Sustainability Chair, Emily Areta SC ’14 as Diversity and Inclusivity Chair, Minjoo Kim SC ’16 as Student Union Chair, Haley Godtfredsen SC ’16 as 5C Events Chair, Alison Kibe SC ’15 as Media Relations Chair, Isabella Mascheroni SC ’14 as Dorm Activities Chair, Emma Brillhart SC ’14 and Oriana LaVilla SC ’14 as Senior Class Representatives, Mikayla Raymond SC ’15 and Allegra Breedlove SC ’15 as Junior Class Representatives, and Jennie Xu SC ’16 as Sophomore Class Representative.