They've been hanging posters on campus for weeks. They've spent night after night knocking on Quad doors. And they've introduced themselves to countless other freshman, all in search of a few votes extra votes.
But when asked, only five of the 38 freshman Undergraduate Assembly candidates could even name the campus leader they hope to work with, UA Chairwoman Dana Hork.
In a Daily Pennsylvanian survey conducted this week, 38 of the 39 freshmen running for the UA responded to seven basic questions about Penn and the UA.
Not one of them passed the simple pop quiz.
The survey asked candidates to name prominent campus figures, such as Hork and Provost Robert Barchi. It also included basic questions about the UA's structure, such as how often the student government group meets.
From the moment the Class of 2005 first stepped onto Penn's campus, it has been noted for breaking records -- first by being the most selective group of students admitted to Penn, and then by being the most motivated and interested bunch of first-years to pursue student government, with 67 candidates running for UA and the Freshman Class Board.
But the exceptional class broke no records on the survey.
Only five of the 38 knew that Hork is the chairwoman of the UA, and only nine could correctly identify Barchi as the provost.
Today the Nominations and Elections Committee will announce the eight victorious freshmen who will join the 25 upperclassmen already on the UA, and these eight will be charged with the responsibility of representing Penn's entire undergraduate community to each other and the administration.
But after learning of the survey's results, members of the NEC, which is charged with overseeing all elections and informing all candidates of the elections process, said that it is not their responsibility to inform candidates about the intricacies of the UA.
Melissa LaVigne, NEC vice chairwoman of freshman elections, said that it is the candidates' responsibility to gather the information on what student government entails.
"We told the candidates when they began running that it was really up to them to find out what position they wanted to run for and what would be involved with each committee and organization on campus," the College sophomore said.
NEC Chairwoman Anne Hankey, a College senior, also said that the responsibility for educating students about their government lies not with the NEC, but the students themselves.
"Student government empowers students," she said. "If you're going to run for student government, you need to be empowered enough to go out and get the information yourself."
Several freshman candidates had incorrectly cited both Hankey and LaVigne as the chairwoman of the UA.
Current UA members plan to give the new crew a crash course in UA basics.
The new member program, which the UA runs every year, is designed to educate the incoming members on the body's workings, the other branches of student government and the school's administration, Hork said.
Hork, a College senior, views the survey as a sign of the need to increase awareness of student government among the general student population.
"The results of the survey reaffirm that our goals for the year are on target," she said. "We need to make the student body better informed on why the UA is relevant to their undergraduate experience."
The fact that the vast majority of candidates did not know who he was did not alarm Barchi, who works closely with the UA on student initiatives and issues.
"I think what captures students' interest in student government, and in University issues, are not necessarily the individuals who are closely connected with those groups, but rather the substance behind them," he said.
But the new members will have a lot to learn.
Only three candidates knew that there are six committees that make up the UA -- Facilities, Communication, Technology, West Philadelphia, Student Life and Budget. And only one knew that the UA was required, by its own constitution, to meet at least twice a month. All information is available on the UA's Web site.
LaVigne said that the results indicated to her that while the freshmen were enthusiastic and interested about student government, they weren't educated or informed of what the job entails, and she repeatedly said that freshmen needed to take the initiative to learn on their own.
During the campaign, many freshmen said that Penn student government offered them many more groups to join than had been available in high school, making the decision of which branch of government to pursue even more difficult.
But when asked to name the other branches of student government, only one could name them all, making leaders speculate on how much research and careful thought actually went into the decisions.
"It makes you pause to wonder what their motivations were in running," LaVigne said.
And not a single candidate could answer the question, "What constitutes a quorum for the UA?" Fifty percent of the body must be present to have a quorum, the minimum number of required to pass legislation.
"What's that?" one male candidate responded during the survey. " Can you spell that? I have no idea."
Another student, however, claimed he knew the answer to the question.
"A quorum," he said. "That's a problem that is resolved over a great period of time."
The most common answers to the questions were simply "I don't know," and "I have no idea."
In addition, no one could accurately define the University Council -- a representative group of students, faculty, staff and administrators that drafts and discusses University policy. Ironically, the highest freshman vote-getter will automatically land a seat on Council.
But Barchi easily explained the survey results.
"It's not surprising to me that relatively few freshmen would know the specific details you ask about in your survey," Barchi said. "First, they only arrived here about six weeks ago. And for the last month, extraordinary world events have captivated much of our time and attention."
And some UA-hopefuls echoed Barchi's sentiment.
"It's still early in the year," said candidate Allison Floam, a College freshman. "People aren't really involved yet, they're just running. People should know, but if they don't it's not a major problem. It's something they have to learn."
Floam said she thought some of the survey questions were very specific and, moreover, the campaigning process didn't require knowing specifics.
But several freshman voters say that's no excuse, and that it's the duty of the school's future leaders to inform themselves.
The survey "does trouble me," College freshman Clara Chen said. "Personally, I'm not running for a position and I don't know that information, but if you are running, it's something you should be expected to know."
At the Sept. 6 meeting, more than 200 freshmen listened as each student government leader summarized each branch's responsibilities.
Then, the freshmen grabbed every available copy of the candidate packets, which were filled with the guidelines for campaign spending and the rules of postering -- but had no mention of the duties of each government organization or an outline of student government's structure.
The one sheet with all of that crucial information was with another packet, a packet that many freshmen neglected to pick up.
In retrospect, LaVigne said she would do things differently.
"The sheet we handed out should have been attached to the candidate packet so it would have been ensured that people got the information," LaVigne said. "You can't really sign up to run for something if you don't really know what you're getting into."
LaVigne said the NEC always looks for the most qualified and interested students to run for office. For LaVigne, the freshmen's ignorance came as no surprise, but was just a reflection of the lack of knowledge of student government within the general student population.
That's a sentiment Hankey shared, and something she would like to change.
"We really need to use the results of the survey as a positive tool to get more uninvolved students to get involved," she said. "We should show them how to get involved and who to talk to."
