Despite the effort to recruit fresh faces to the Undergraduate Assembly’s presidential and vice presidential races, all five of the current candidates are UA insiders.
The Undergraduate Assembly held its first-ever Executive Information Session Monday night — a meeting designed to educate the candidates about the newly-instituted executive positions and “warn them about what they’re getting into,” according to UA Chairman Alec Webley, a College junior.
The five current candidates all attended the mandatory meeting.
In the running for UA president so far are UA Vice Chair for External Affairs Matt Amalfitano and UA Associate Member Grant Dubler, both College juniors.
The vice presidential candidates are UA Secretary and Wharton sophomore Faye Cheng, UA Communication Director and College junior Mark Pan, and UA Member and Engineering sophomore Emily Shaeffer.
During the meeting, Webley explained the UA’s functions, as well each role’s specific responsibilities. This was an effort to “level the playing field” among the candidates — a measure which, he added, is critical this year.
With the new system of directly electing both the president and the vice president — while continuing to internally elect the UA speaker — Webley said, “we really want to make sure that if you’re an outsider, you aren’t being crushed” by the UA insiders who might already know all the facts of the body.
Though no “outsiders” are currently running, students technically have until March 15 to declare their candidacies and “anybody could join the race, is encouraged to join the race,” according to Chairwoman of the Presidential Debate Committee Natalie Vernon, a College senior.
New, UA-outsider candidates joining the race at this point is “more unlikely than likely,” Webley said, but “look at every student government in America … outsiders almost never run for directly-elected positions, and unfortunately they almost never win.”
Similarly, he added, “Does someone run for U.S. president without holding some public office? Even Sarah Palin was Governor of Alaska.”
The Daily Pennsylvanian is an independent, student-run newspaper. Please consider making a donation to support the coverage that shapes the University. Your generosity ensures a future of strong journalism at Penn.
DonatePlease note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.