Voting students must think Penn's student government leaders are doing something right, as every Undergraduate Assembly incumbent and nearly every incumbent class officer was re-elected.
Last night, in a sweltering Terrace Room in Logan Hall, the Nominations and Elections Committee announced the UA and Class Board election winners.
College junior Meredith Seidel won as senior class president, College sophomore Matthew Klapper won as junior class president and College freshman Jack Cohen won as sophomore class president.
Twenty-five candidates were elected to the UA, and UA Chairman Seth Schreiberg said that he is confident in the new board.
"I think this is the best UA so far that I've seen in the last four years," the College senior said. "I think they'll make great strides and won't let the campus down."
Incumbent UA Engineering representative Matt Lattman, a junior, agreed with the new body's ability -- "I think we've been headed in the right direction for a long time, and I think it's time to peak."
The NEC also deliberated on the Fair Practice Code violations brought up against two candidates. Jack Cohen, who served as both freshman class president and SAS representative for the UA this past year, was voted in as president of the sophomore class after the NEC found him not guilty of using listservs as an incumbent, a charge brought against him by fellow candidate Sean Foley.
However, the NEC found UA candidate Rusty Fein guilty of exceeding the campaign spending limit and disqualified him from the election.
UA members said the mix of old and new will keep the UA up to par in terms of energy and experience. "I think it's really great to see we have some of the old representatives staying on and that we also have some new blood," incumbent UA Wharton representative Cynthia Wong said.
Some of the new members said that the adjustment to their positions could initially be a bit of a challenge.
UA College representative and junior Marika Maris said that first running for student government as a junior, she originally thought it might be hard to fit into the organization's camaraderie.
"I figured everyone would already know each other," Maris said. "But I think I have a pretty good idea about how it goes, so I'm not too concerned about it."
Out of all the new Engineering representatives, Wharton and Engineering sophomore Conor O'Callaghan received the most votes as a first-time candidate.
"Being the highest vote-getter is such an honor," O'Callaghan said. "Especially this year, with such a strong candidate pool."
Other top vote-getters include College junior Jason Levy with 626 votes, Wharton junior Winnie Ting and the uncontested Nursing junior Aparna Chandrasekhar for the College, Wharton and Nursing representative positions, respectively.
The UA's internal elections -- in which the group selects a new leader -- will take place April 15, and Schreiberg's potential successors include Lattman, Levy and College junior Kirsten Grubbs, who all expressed interest in running for the position of UA chairperson.
"I feel like with my experience and dedication to the UA, I can definitely provide the leadership necessary to take the body to new heights," Grubbs said.
College sophomore Anthony Giuliano -- who won for College representative for the sophomore class but lost the UA College representative position -- blames the low voter turnout on the excessive number of uncontested candidates, especially on the Class Boards.
"I think as a whole, elections this year weren't that competitive," Giuliano said, in response to this year's 32.5 percent voter turnout, as opposed to last year's turnout of over 50 percent. "I think that sort of creates a voter apathy."
