Tag: senior class council

Seniors to run the Final Lap

By Liz Hardaway, Arts & Entertainment Editor

It’s the final countdown.

With nals approaching, graduating seniors and underclassmen can look forward to the Final Lap on May 9.

After commencement rehearsals, seniors will be running at 8:30 p.m. under inflatable arches decorated with lights down the path around Slocum Hall all the way to Chappelear Drama Center. Then, seniors will turn around, go down the JAYWalk, and end the walk at the Gordon Field House, where underclassmen can join for music and food.

“It definitely isn’t just a senior class event; we want the whole campus to benefit from [the Final Lap],” said senior Lee LeBoef, president of Senior Class Council.

Getting inspiration from the Night Nation Run, a running music festival, the Senior Class Council has been planning this event since October.

“Our senior class council is hoping that this will turn into a tradition that will last for many years to come,” said senior Daud Baz, treasurer of Senior Class Council. There will also be food trucks, such as Dan’s Deli, and a beer truck, provided by Delmar Distilleries, stationed in the Science Center parking lot.

The Stolen Fire, comprising Ohio Wesleyan professors, will perform at 8:45 p.m. in the Gordon Field House. At 9:45 p.m., DJ BitFlip and Firecat 451 will be performing an EDM show until 11:45 pm.

“My biggest goal was to have something unifying for the entire senior class as a final celebration,” LeBoeuf said.

 

 

The little things matter most

I want to begin by congratulating the four members of the class of 2016 who were voted to the Senior Class Council. Juniors Shelli Reeves, Milagros Green, Kelly Johnson and Sean Roskamp will make up the council for next year’s graduating class.

As most of you probably don’t know, the process of electing the president and vice president was broken this year.

After Ben Miller and Brittany Spicer were elected to be president and vice president on March 27, they received congratulations from Rock Jones, the President’s assistant, current Senior Class Council President Liz Fisher and friends around campus. Everything was peachy and it seemed like a normal election. Not so fast!

Soon after, they received an email from the post-graduate intern Hillary Fowler to notify them of the upcoming run-off election. Apparently, if candidates win without 50 percent of the vote, there must be a run-off election. These rules were never stated prior to the election.

With not even half the junior class voting and three candidates running for president and VP, gaining 50 percent is nearly impossible.

The run-off election took place this past week with even fewer people voting. Reeves and Green won even though they didn’t receive as many votes as Miller and Spicer during the first election.

Now, at this point, I’m not really mad, just disappointed. I can’t help but feel bad for Miller and Spicer. According to the stated rules (or lack thereof), they won the spots fair and square the first go around.

Ohio Wesleyan blew it. This is pathetic. How hard is it to run a fair election? Many students, including myself, had the same response when hearing the news: chuckled and let out a big “that’s bullshit.” No wonder the school is losing so much money. Yes, this is on a very small scale and no one will care in two weeks, but sometimes it’s the little things that matter most in life.

Keeping your word is a great quality to have. I like to think I’m someone who keeps my word.  I’m sure you would like that reputation as well. And I’m 100 percent certain OWU wants to be viewed as an esteemed institution. Why else would we hire a branding consultant and get a brand new tour bus?

Ohio Wesleyan, if you’re reading this, it’s too late. But for next time, communicate with the candidates a little more thoroughly. If potential students hear about the professionalism of the Senior Class Council election, maybe enrollment will go back up.

Controversial run-off voting for senior class council takes place

The announcement of a run-off election for Senior Class Council in late March has not gone over well with candidates who were previously told they won.

In order to confirm the results of the initial election, juniors Ben Miller and Brittany Spicer – who were told they won via email – were yet again forced to contend for president and vice president.

Miller went against Shelli Reeves for president and Spicer against Milagros Green for vice president. All of those who are running are juniors, a requirement of the election.

“When I first found out there would be a run off, I was angry,” Spicer said. “We had gotten multiple emails confirming the election results and congratulatory messages from faculty, staff, students and even Rock Jones.”

Miller, who is the Arts and Entertainment editor at The Transcript, shared his disapproval.

“I was just really surprised, I was congratulated by the administration and then it was just kind of taken away,” Miller said.

Miller said he found the proceedings unfair and the school should have notified all of the candidates beforehand.

Two other additions to the Senior Class Council, secretary Kelly Johnson and treasurer Sean Roskamp, were unaffected by the announcement of a run-off.

Roskamp ran unopposed and Johnson won the majority of her votes. This resulted in both keeping their positions.

Still, Johnson was upset with how things played out.

“It was definitely pretty frustrating,” Johnson said. “How can you tell someone they won when they didn’t?”

During the run-off election, the worry was whether or not enough people would vote. Those who were still in the running for president and vice president did not campaign as much the second time around.

“I think the big concern is just getting enough people to vote in general this time,” Spicer said. “No one was really expecting this to happen, so I haven’t seen any candidates putting as much into campaigning as we all did the first time.”

Reeves and Green sent out emails reminding students to vote, but not much else has been done in terms of campaigning from any of the candidates.

The run-off voting took place online, April 8-9. And after tallying the results, Reeves and Green won their respective positions.

Run-off elections to be held for senior class council

Those thought to be elected into the senior class council will have to continue pulling for votes from the junior class.

On Wednesday and Thursday, March 25 and 26, the senior class council elections were held. The positions on the ballot were president, vice president, secretary and treasurer. Only juniors could run.

Three members of the class of 2016 ran for both president and vice president, two ran for secretary and one ran for treasurer.

Ben Miller, Brittany Spicer, and Kelly Johnson were told they won their respective postions. However, it was clear that in order to confirm these results, a run-off election must be held.

On Wednesday, Post-Grad Intern for University Involvement Hillary Fowler informed the candidates of the run-off via email.

“I apologize to each of you for the miscommunication of the announcement of last week’s election results,” Fowler stated in the email.

“There will need to be a run-off to determine the President, Vice President, and Secretary between the two candidates receiving the highest percentage of the votes.”

Sean Roskamp was elected as treasurer and will remain certain in his position since he ran unopposed.

The run-off election will be held from Wednesday April 8 through Thursday April 9. Juniors will be able to vote through the same online process through the My OWU portal.

Each of the candidates particpated in the election for different reasons. Each is looking to improve the OWU community in varying manners.

Madison Snider said she decided to run for secretary because “I felt that secretary would be fun, considering that I enjoy typing and keeping notes. I could’ve joined clubs or groups, but this to me felt like a better use of my talents and would allow me to be part of something that helps makes all seniors enjoy our last year.”

Kelly Johnson said, that as “secretary I would want to ensure that majority of the Class of 2016 attends the events being planned by the senior class council through the help of the marketing team. It is important for seniors who pay their dues to get the most out of their money and their senior year.”

Johnson also added, “The events planned by the senior class council are a fun way to bring the senior class together and I would not want anyone to miss out on this.”

Milagros Green said, “I will still be working to support the student body. I am currently trying to push for free housing over Thanksgiving and spring break for students who cannot afford to travel home and prefer to stay in their own room.”

“Our liberal arts university is a place to grow as a person, and I would love to strengthen the communication and interaction among different groups on campus to make that growth happen,” said Green.

N’Toia Hawkins, who ran for vice president, said, “I think that getting people together as a class is one thing that could be improved. They tell us that convocation and graduation are the only times that our entire class will be together, but I don’t think that these should be the only times.”

Shelli Reeves, who is in the running for president said, “I view the OWU community is a place of various people and various ideas. This makes us unique because we as a whole are leaders of tomorrow. I think that everyone has immense potential and we are welcomed to learn from each other.”