The Associated Students of Claremont McKenna College and Pitzer College Student Senate welcomed executive board officers elected for the 2017-2018 term on Feb. 28 and March 10, respectively.
Hajar Hammado PZ ’18 will become the first woman of color to serve as Pitzer Senate President; this election cycle marked the first where both candidates were women of color.
“I’m glad that I will have the opportunity to collaborate with the Pitzer community on initiatives to improve our institution,” Hammado wrote in an email to TSL. “I hope that my track record will serve as an inspiration for others who are interested in partaking in shared governance.”
Hammado hopes to address funding at Pitzer in collaboration with 5C governments.
“I plan to play an active role in the upcoming 5C and Pitzer Budget Hearings in order to ensure that student activities fees are fairly allocated to all of the great clubs and organizations that we have here on campus,” Hammado wrote.
Hammado also expressed admiration for the executive board's passion and dedication to improve the student experience at Pitzer.
“I look forward to collaborating with my executive board on making Student Senate truly representative and redefining our priorities so they align with the student body,” Hammado wrote.
Incoming treasurer Lindsay Mooradian PZ ’19 was also enthusiastic about working with the executive board.
“I'm looking to speed up the reimbursement process, make student activities fees more accessible to the student body, and increase transparency between the student body and Senate regarding the budget and budget committee,” Mooradian wrote in an email to TSL.
In an email to TSL, secretary-elect Kamyab Mashian PZ ’19 laid out his goal to improve the dynamic between Student Senate and Pitzer’s clubs and student organizations. He hopes the senate can spend more time discussing issues that affect the student body and less time getting “bogged down in procedural debates.”
In their first meeting since the election, Mashian and Hammado have discussed their shared goals, including a plan to live stream future senate sessions and maintain an archive of the footage.
“Based on my work with the other newly-elected members, I think we will have no problem working together to tackle issues like transparency, diversity, and fair spending. I have high hopes that the next academic year will be a productive one,” Mashian wrote.
The term for the new executive board officially starts on May 14.
With regard to CMC's elections, vice president-elect of student activities Chandler Koon CM ’19 wrote in an email to TSL that he was disappointed that he only received 76 percent of 735 votes, with the other 24 percent of voters either writing in candidates or abstaining from voting.
“I hope to hear from and work with the people who didn't vote for me, because I assume they have valid reasons for doing so, and would love to incorporate their ideas for ASCMC events and programming moving forward,” Koon wrote.
Koon believes ASCMC events only attract certain groups within the student body, and hopes to make this term’s events programming more inclusive and appealing. He also wants to “bring the community back into a larger role in planning events at CMC.”
Koon elaborated that this concern stems from his belief that students are “generally not huge fans of [ASCMC].”
“Though ASCMC is far from a perfectly-run corporation, its sole purpose for existing is to make student life better, and I hope that this board will be able to make that clear in a way that past boards have not,” Koon wrote.
Koon wrote that he is excited about working with the elected and appointed executive board members on ASCMC, but is “fairly uncomfortable with the number of unopposed elections, and the lack of female representation in elected positions.”
Incoming dormitory affairs chair Josh Guggenheim CM ’19 explained his plan to focus his efforts on the housing selection for students in the 3:2 Program, which typically involves CMC students receiving an undergraduate degree in three years and a master's degree in two.
“Despite attending many meetings regarding this issue, I was recently told that there was ‘not enough time’ to engage with this issue,” he said. “As [dormitory affairs chair], I want to make sure that all issues have substantial time dedicated to them. I promise to engage with all dormitory concerns equally and fairly.”
Sophomore class President-elect Bryan Carlen CM ’20 hopes to “appeal to a larger audience for events, specifically keeping in mind those who may not be interested in ‘party culture.’”
All but two appointed positions for ASCMC are finalized. The applications for the remaining appointed positions are due on March 27.
Pitzer Senate’s legislative applications are available from March 27 to April 7. The legislative elections will be held on April 10 to April 11.