Diversity, number of women increase on UA

The Undergraduate Assembly is becoming more diverse.

Three weeks ago, the UA completed appointments to its cabinet, which consists of the executive board — which was elected last month — the committee directors, the communications director and the speaker pro tempore.

Applications were sent out to the UA body and the executive board interviewed those who applied, UA President and College and Wharton junior Abe Sutton said of the committee director appointment process.

The new cabinet saw four more women in addition to the ones already elected on the executive board. This means that for the first time in many years, women hold a majority of seats with six out of 11 total spots. Racial diversity also increased, with seven Hispanic members now sitting on the UA, including Vice President and College sophomore Gabe Delaney.

The four women added to the cabinet include College freshman Yessenia Moreno, who will lead the Academic Affairs committee, College sophomore Joyce Kim, who will lead Civic and Philadelphia Engagement, College sophomore Danielle Golub, who will take charge of Dining, Sustainability, and Facilities, and Communications Director and College freshman Jane Meyer.

“The composition of the UA now better reflects that of Penn,” Meyer said in an email.

Moreno added that the increased diversity shows “the increasing prominence of young women running for leadership positions on campus.”

Delaney attributes the surge in gender diversity to a number of factors. “Number one, we had a few more women applying this year than last, and the women this year were so well qualified. In terms of the general cabinet, I know we were very happy to see some of the girls really step up this year. This was done strictly on the basis of merit, and it just really worked out that we had so many women take on leadership positions,” he said.

However, the UA still lags behind in gender diversity with higher executive positions. Since the role of UA president became open to a public vote in 2010, there have been no female candidates.

The UA has also considered a bylaw amendment designed to guarantee greater diversity in their allocation of University Council seats. According to the bylaws of the UC, 15 seats are granted to elected UA representatives. The body has the responsibility of insuring “that, to the extent possible, each undergraduate school is represented.”

To that end, the UA approved the amendment that moves the choice of representatives to the UC from body election to executive board selection. “We see a number of benefits to using appointments for UC positions,” Sutton said.

The executive board announced they would appoint UA representative and Engineering sophomore Cruz Vargas as an Engineering representative and UA representative and sophomore Jessica McCurry from the School of Nursing to the UC.

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