Election results of the Graduate Student Association were
released Thursday night to reveal that doctoral student Jared Fox
took the presidency in what was the highest voter turnout in known
GSA history.
With 17 percent of the graduate student body voting, Fox won the
presidency by a large margin of 24 percent.
More contested was the position of vice president of internal
affairs, in which Marilyn Gray, the current vice president of
academic affairs, was victorious over public health student Eric
Lai by a 3 percent margin.
Amanda Moussa, an uncontested candidate, won the position of
vice president of external affairs.
For the position of the vice president of academic affairs,
Michelle Sugi, also a public health student, was victorious over
five other candidates in a close race.
There was no apparent winner for the vice president of academic
affairs until after the fourth count, as candidates must receive
more than 50 percent of the vote to win.
When no one candidate receives more than 50 percent of the vote,
the last vote-getting candidate is dropped from the race and
second-ranked votes are redistributed among the remaining
candidates. The process was repeated until it was found that Sugi
received 54.2 percent of the vote.
Sugi said she was both relieved to have won and excited to see
so many applicants involved in the election process.
“I have heard that in the past they haven’t had that
many candidates. … I’m so happy that people are more aware
of GSA,” Sugi said.
Fox shared the same excitement.
“I am very pleased at how the results turned out,”
said Fox, who said he had anticipated winning when he got word of
the unofficial results from the GSA elections director Wednesday
night.
As soon as Fox heard official word of his victory late Thursday
night, he said he sent out an e-mail thanking his friends and
supporters.
Overall, both new and old officers are pleased with this
year’s higher voter turnout.
“I am really happy to see the large percentage … it
shows that people are getting more interested,” said current
GSA President Hanish Rathod.
Sugi attributes the high turnout partly to the amount of
candidates that ran. Sugi said she hopes this trend continues in
years to come.
Rathod said he is most pleased to see Gray take a GSA post again
this year.
“I was really happy to see Marilyn win … it provides a
sense of consistency,” Rathod said, adding that Gray will be
able to “carry the ball” on many of the programs that
GSA has initiated this year.
Gray says she is ready for this responsibility.
“My experience and knowledge of campus will help in the
transition process,” she said.
The next couple of months will mark the transition period
between GSA officers ““ a time that both outgoing and incoming
officers consider valuable.
“During the next month, I’m going to be spending
time with Hanish,” Fox said, adding that he hopes to continue
much of the work the office has initiated.
Rathod too believes it is his responsibility to oversee the
transition process, recalling the difficulties he encountered in
his own transition from the president of external affairs on last
year’s council to the president this year.
Though Fox will take over as the graduate student body leader
with less experience than Rathod had, Rathod said he is confident
that Fox will be prepared.
“I’m hoping to work with Jared for the next month or
so to get him up to speed in the position. … I have confidence
that he’ll be ready to go,” he said.