After five hours of debate and difficult questions last night, the Undergraduate Assembly elected its executive board for the 2007-2008 school year.
College junior Jason Karsh will serve as the board's chairman.
Other board members include:
- Vice Chairman: Engineering junior Dipal Patel
- Vice Chairman for External Affairs: Wharton and College sophomore Wilson Tong
- Treasurer: College junior Sunny Patel
- Secretary: Nursing junior Alexandra Kotsovos
The race was one of the more contested in recent history, with 10 people running for five positions. The high level of competition stands in stark contrast to last year's election, which included only one contested race for all five positions.
And though Karsh managed to beat out College junior Sarah Abroms, Karsh will have big shoes to fill.
The UA passed over 40 proposals during Wharton senior Brett Thalmann's term as chairman and brought the students Ruckus, the free music downloading service, and free copies of The New York Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, the Philadelphia Daily News and USA Today.
But Karsh has an agenda full of plans for the fall, when he will officially begin his term.
The Colorado native said he has three main goals for the UA: to make the body accessible to students through outreach - one idea he has is weekly YouTube updates; to increase efficiency at weekly meetings; and to get UA members excited about working on and advertising their projects.
"It's going to be an amazing year," Karsh said. "The new executive board has "the right experience, the right chemistry."
Voting on a chairman sparked the most debate, lasting about an hour and a half before Karsh secured the post.
After the candidates gave speeches expressing their reasons for running and goals for the UA, they were asked a number of questions from their colleagues.
A recurring question for most candidates included the role of the UA in contentious campus-wide debates.
A major goal on Karsh's platform is to create an open forum for all Penn students to attend during UA meetings, giving them the opportunity to weigh in on student government-related topics.
As Thalmann prepares to hand over the reigns to Karsh, he isn't worried about his successors.
"I'm really impressed with the new board," he said. "I hope they can achieve some of their ambitious goals to reach out to students directly."
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