UMC Elections

College junior Liz Melendez was selected United Minorities Council Chairperson-elect at a UMC Presidents' Meeting held last night at the Greenfield Intercultural Center. Wharton junior Jenny Ho was selected UMC Vice Chairperson-elect. Melendez defeated College junior and current UMC Corresponding Secretary Shreya Patel in what UMC Vice Chairperson Alicia Lewis characterized as a close race. Wharton sophomore Kendrick Cox took his name off the slate in the contest for chairperson for personal reasons. Ho ran unopposed. In her freshman and sophomore years, Melendez served as the Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan's UMC representative, UMC Social Planning and Events Committee representative, and MEChA vice president, respectively. This year, she is president of the Sigma Lambda Upsilon sorority, and is again the MEChA representative to the UMC. Melendez said her experience has provided good preparation for the upcoming fall, when she will officially assume the position of UMC chair. "I've been involved in smaller positions within the UMC and I always wanted to be in a position to make more effective changes," Melendez said. "I felt ready and prepared to commit myself to such a big responsibility." During her term, Melendez said she hopes to bring more visibility to the UMC in the University community, to allow for more interaction between the UMC's constituent groups and to address the pertinent issue of racial sensitivity on campus. Ho was the co-chair of the UMC Celebration of Cultures as a freshman. As a sophomore, she served as UMC representative to SPEC and this year, she was the Chinese Students Association's UMC representative. Ho said she was hesitant to run for vice chairperson at first because of her loss last year in the same contest. "I didn't know about elections until Shreya told me, but I wanted to get back involved [with the UMC]," she said. She said her main goal for next year is closing the "gap" between the UMC and the "rest" of the campus community. "By the end of my term, I know I will not alleviate the problem completely, but I hope that the UMC will no longer be seen as the 'outside' group," Ho added. Wharton junior Rishi Sikka, South Asia Society representative to the UMC, said he is pleased with the outcome of yesterday's elections. "I think we've got two very capable, hard-working people," he said. "The vision and foresight of the two individuals will allow the UMC to build upon our past successes and move us even further on." Lewis, a Wharton senior, and Current UMC Chair Jun Bang, a College senior, both concurred. "It's hard for me to reflect, because that means my term is almost over," Bang said. "I see a lot of potential for the UMC to grow under strong leadership next year." But she cautioned that the new officers cannot be successful without the support and assistance of the UMC's constituent groups. "[The chair-elect and vice chair-elect] are targeted in their vision for the UMC. They realize there is always room for change," Bang added. "I'm pretty happy with the choices that have been made," Lewis said.

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