The University Student Senate has called for a revote for the Spring 2017 senator elections. In an email sent out Tuesday afternoon, USS announced that the election period has been extended due to “technical and logistical difficulties, including the lack of candidate profiles.”
The previous voting period was scheduled to end on Wednesday, Feb 15, but candidates’ campaign platforms and initiatives were not posted until the Monday of the same week. Instead of candidate profiles, placeholder text appeared on the senate’s website. At the last USS meeting Friday night, senators said the oversight at that time was due to senators’ busy schedules and heavy class loads.
Previous votes will not be counted. The new voting period began Tuesday, Feb. 14 and will close Tuesday, Feb 21 at 3pm. There are currently 11 open positions for representatives at Eugene Lang, Parsons and the Schools of Performing Arts, Social Research and Public Engagement.
The New School Free Press has selected quotes from the candidates’ campaigns below. You can read their entire platform, initiatives and past experience here. If you have not yet submitted your electronic ballot, make sure to cast your vote here before Wednesday.
SCHOOLS OF PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT
Kyle Ballou – “I believe I am dedicated to the principles of knowledge, togetherness, freedom and the pursuit of one’s future. We should be able to discover and respect the unity in a university.”
Jiao Ma – “I would like create a platform for U.S. and international students to exchange ideas and work with one another. “
Allie Mularoni – “ As a senator, I understand and appreciate that it will be my duty to serve not myself, but those who work as earnestly as I do.”
Jhon Valdes Klinger – “I have made deep connection with students throughout the different program that I have explored. I am also an advocate for my own education and would like to have the opportunity to advocate for the student body.”
Coniqua Johnson – “I am committed to making sure that members of the New School student body are heard, represented, and included.”
Jason Casanova –“I have always sought to grasp varying perspectives and find commonalities to mitigate differences or build relationships. I would represent the Senate in the upright manner I set for my siblings and the ethical fashion adhered to professionally.”
Fagan Kuhnmuench – “ My aim is to include efforts from an array of students and faculty, to collaborate regarding tactics, ideology and inclusivity. Furthermore, I plan to highlight the advancements via school wide newsletters and national outlets to illuminate the efforts publicly and transparently.”
PARSONS
Gabriela Vieira – “I’d like to work to create a more open dialogue between students, and faculty and administration about mental health.”
Annabella Waszkiewicz – “I feel that I truly embody what it means to be a New School student; I am driven, persistent, committed to excellence, constantly striving to be the best version of myself, and I am dedicated to helping out those around me and providing a better environment for my peers and fellow citizens.”
Stephen Yang-“The Senate should always choose people based on good character and leadership, both in which I am comfortable enough to say I have.”
Sunjam Kaur – “Being a past senator at the USS in the year 2015-16 I have learnt and supported sincere contribution that came from the senate and I would like to be a factor in sustaining the same during the upcoming term.”
Alice Mueller – “Empathy, openness, curiosity, & teamwork are aspects that we have to elate on both micro & macro levels within a community, that I am equipped enough to help build with, so that we can give all New School students the most fertile creative environment possible.”
Xuan Liu -“I believe that I am a competitive candidate for Parsons because of many organizing qualities and experience in working with others to organize events.”
Carmela Wilkins – “I represent Parsons beyond its glitz and glamor, standing behind the social initiatives not known to many. I want to cater to its mission not only as a focal point for aspiring designers but an institution that asks questions and doesn’t stop at the first answer.”
Kabeer – “If selected to represent Parsons at USS I will make sure that Change is the catalyst of growth and progress at the New School. I will do everything in my capacity and right to bring about this said change in any way possible for my fellow Students.”
Paulina Aldaba Hernandez – “I am the best candidate to represent Parsons because I am committed to bringing forth the issues of representation, equality, and justice that most matter to students of color, LGBT Students, and international students, like myself. As a member of many minorities, I will push forward an agenda of inclusion.“
Santangelo Williams – “I believe that an important part of representation is perspective. Coming from a low income family I understand the hardships many other struggling students may face. “
Esther Woo- “I want our school to have a better social community and to create connections that will help the future of the body of the students. I believe in the power of innovation and have a vision for the future of the arts and design industry and it starts from us, the student body. “
EUGENE LANG
Danny Yoo – “I believe I can best represent the interests of Lang students in the U.S.S. because I share the school’s passion for social justice & activism… I will strive to represent all individuals, inclusive of all majors, race, genders, religions, and political affiliations.”
Julianna Dunphy – “I am the best candidate to represent my college because I have such a wide variety of experience and very different perspective than most students… I am a great listener and would like to work with students and faculty to make the campus the safest and effective it can be.”
Ellen Plass – I believe that my growing passion for the school and its students make me the ideal candidate. The fact that I am only in my first year means that I have a lot of vision about what the school will look like over my time here and for the time of others after me. “
Emily Defelippis – “My volunteer record shows my commitment to improving situations, addressing issues, and my desire to help people.“
COLLEGE OF PERFORMING ARTS + MANNES
Sesil Cho – N/A
Maftuna Tolipova -“I am the best candidate to represent my college because I know how great my college is and want to show it to the whole universe. I think to improve our college in a great way we should value what we already have and level up from there knowing where we are improving from.”
THE NEW SCHOOL FOR SOCIAL RESEARCH
David Maddy – “I came to NSSR to study social justice and I want to represent the precariousness of the students of NSSR… I aim to do what I can to apply what I have learned at this school to the economically precarious situation that many students find themselves in here.”
Ahad Ali – “I have been involved in local student organizations long enough to have a sense of the pervasive issues that afflict students at the NSSR and I hope to contribute towards solving them.”
Photo: Julia Himmel