The Undergraduate Assembly elected its new executive board for the 2008-2009 school year last night after a six-hour meeting that was open to the public.
College and Wharton junior Wilson Tong will lead the UA as the body's new chairman. Tong, the current vice chairman for external affairs, is also the first Asian-American chairman in the UA's history.
Other members of the executive board include:
n Executive Vice Chair: College junior Jay Patel
n Vice Chair for External Affairs: College sophomore Zac Byer
n Treasurer: Wharton junior Ben Coulter
n Secretary: Will be elected later this week due to "extenuating circumstances," according to outgoing UA chairman and College senior Jason Karsh.
With a total of seven members running for four positions, the race was slightly less competitive than last year's, when 10 members ran for five positions.
The position of chairman was uncontested, contrary to last year, when it received the most debate. On the other hand, the executive vice chairman and vice chairman for external affairs races were extremely competitive, with both Patel and Byer winning by just a single vote - 9 to 8 with six abstentions in the first race and 11 to 10 with two abstentions in the second.
The position of treasurer was met with less debate, concluding with Coulter winning 17 to 4 with one abstention.
In Tong's first motion as chairman, the race for secretary will be postponed until later this week, as no members had decided to run for the spot before the meeting began. Two members emerged as potential willing "drop-down" candidates after losing their respective races, but the body felt a candidate would be better chosen after all members had a chance to further consider the position.
Despite the fact that the board is not yet complete, Tong has ambitious plans for the upcoming year.
"My main goal is to help the UA provide greater ownership for students," Tong said. He added that the first act he would like the UA to undertake is to administer a survey to all undergraduates allowing them to tell the UA what they'd like to see the body work on.
This past year, the UA passed 25 proposals tackling prominent issues such as sustainability, blood donation by men who have sex with men and bringing free copies of The New York Times to students.
"By giving students a greater stake, it would make the job easier for us by helping the UA prioritize our goals, and make student government more responsive and relevant to students," Tong said.
Karsh agreed, saying, "I'd like to see them really follow up on students who aren't as involved and bring in more voices."
Two other branches of student government - the Nominations and Elections Committee and the Social Planning and Events Committee - also announced their new executive boards for next year this week. College junior Brittany Stark will serve as chairwoman of the NEC, along with:
n Vice Chair for Elections: College sophomore Rachel Levick
n Vice Chair for Nominations: College freshmen Margo Peyton and Andrew Schlossberg
n Vice Chair for Education: Wharton sophomore Patricia Liu
n Vice Chair for Publicity: Wharton freshman Nick Greif
n Vice Chair for Administration and Finance: College sophomore Callan Smith
College junior Michelle Jacobson will head SPEC as president, in concert with:
n Vice President: College junior Boris Fedorov
n Treasurer: College junior Andrew Shults
n Secretary: College sophomore Dasha Barannik
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