Hundreds of freshmen leaned against walls, sat in folding chairs and hung over the balcony in the Hall of Flags yesterday as they listened to presentations from Penn's student government groups.
The meeting, which drew the largest turnout in recent memory, provided freshmen with an overview of the process of running for student government. Freshmen must declare candidacy for office by Sept. 17.
Representatives from the six school government groups and the University Honor Council briefly summarized the responsibilities and requirements for the various leadership positions.
By the end of the meeting, the 200 copies of the candidate information packet were gone -- with more students left empty-handed.
Eight freshmen must still fill seats on the UA; only 25 were elected last spring in anticipation of the arrival of the Class of 2005.
The two packets and a question-and-answer session outlined the information needed to run a successful campaign, such as the number of signatures needed to run for the Undergraduate Assembly or class boards. For example, candidates for class president must obtain 290 signatures from members of the Class of 2005.
Nominations and Elections Committee Chairwoman Anne Hankey, a College senior, also explained that candidates can spend no more than $50 on their campaign. They will also be disqualified if they fail to return their spending forms, which document campaign expenses.
In the past, Hankey said, the meetings drew as few as 10 students.
"It wasn't that there weren't as many interested students as there are now," Hankey said. "It's that a lot of the interested students didn't come to the meeting."
Hankey credited the meeting's success to increased publicity. Several e-mails were sent out to the entire freshman class, fliers were posted across campus and e-mails were sent specifically to students who signed interest sheets during orientation.
It appears to have worked. Lisa Yin came to the meeting even though, unlike most of her fellow classmates at the meeting, she has never served on student government before.
"The poster said, `Do you want to rule the school?' So, that's why I came," the Huntsman freshman said.
After the meeting, many freshmen remained confused about the different roles of each government branch and almost all had trouble with the acronyms. For many freshmen, they have never had this many choices for how to get involved in student government.
Many of the freshmen were interested in looking at Penn student government after spending years in high school student government.
"I've never not been in student government," College freshman Sun Chung said. "It just made sense to come tonight. It was a natural."
Chung added that she wants to experiment with different forms of leadership in college, adding that she wanted to serve on the honor council because of its involvement with academic integrity. A UA steering committee voted for the first time to invite the honor council to the meeting, even though it is not a governing body.
But leaders consider the numerous options an advantage rather than a disadvantage.
"It's a tribute to how student government is organized at Penn," said Lindsey Mathews, chairwoman of the Student Committee on Undergraduate Education.
"The different branches offer avenues for everyone's individual interests under the wider umbrella of student government," the College senior added.
When the energetic and enthusiastic freshmen left the meeting, many said they definitely wanted to run for office, but few had decided which government branch or which position to pursue.
"It definitely clarified things," Wharton freshman Eric Gasqueres said. "Now I can think more clearly about what I want to do."
While the current government leaders were ecstatic with the record-breaking crowd, many freshmen envisioned the meeting differently.
"I expected more students would come," Engineering freshman Joey Fehrman said. "I guess because I think of all Penn students as leaders. But, that's fine -- it improves my chances."
UA Chairwoman Dana Hork complimented all the student government leaders for their ability to put group agendas aside and cooperate for the general meeting.
"The student government leaders really came together to make sure student government in general was represented," the College senior said.
Freshmen elections will conclude October 9.
