The University Board of Elections announced the results of the 2013 University-wide elections at noon Saturday, 20 hours after they were scheduled to be released. Their release was delayed due to “the significant amount of data generated by the high voter turnout” which hindered the computer system that tallies the results, UBE said.
When the results were finally announced, third-year College student Eric McDaniel, Student Council’s current director of University relations, was officially confirmed Council president. McDaniel ran unopposed and had unofficially obtained the post when no other candidates registered to run by the Feb. 4 deadline.
Third-year College student Neil Branch was re-elected as Council’s vice president for organizations, beating out challenger second-year Engineering student Jalen Ross, and third-year College student Annie Ungrady was elected Council’s vice president for administration in a five-person race.
As the incoming president, McDaniel said he is looking forward to reforming the way Council operates and improving student perception of Council. “Some of the problems we’ve had [in the past] are the way we are perceived,” he said. “We’ve had problems with representatives showing up. And with the new team in place … in the coming year Council will do a lot more to represent [the] student voice.”
McDaniel said he also hopes to promote Council collaboration with other organizations on Grounds. Meetings with student leaders and the Minority Rights Coalition will help facilitate active student engagement, McDaniel said. “Student dialogue is going to be a big focus for me,” he said.
Coming into his second term, Branch said he will use his experiences as this past year’s VPO in the upcoming term. “My [focus will be] expanding the resources and services provided to [Contracted Independent Organizations], meaning better ways to advertise events, looking into a universal student calendar and making the funding process more effective and more efficient,” he said. Branch said he also plans to work on adding more incentives to the financial allocation system, rewarding innovative ideas proposed by CIOs.
Two of the three successful Council candidates, Branch and McDaniel, have previous executive experience — a quality Ungrady said will be invaluable in the next year. “It’s really fantastic that two of the three of us have been on executive board,” she said.
Second-year College student Shanice Hardy and third-year College students Sean McAuliffe and Sherie Zhou were named University Judiciary Committee representatives from the College.
Third-year College students Evan Behrle, Michelle Butler, Conor O’Boyle, Brittany Wengel and Julie Yee came out on top of an eight-person race to be elected Honor Committee representatives from the College.
The UBE reported 8,862 students voted in the election, representing 40.54 percent of the student body — an eight-point increase from last year.
Read More
DivestUVA hosts rally to call for reapportionment of University funding from fossil fuels
By Brandon Kile | 1 hours agoPart of DivestUVA’s mission is increased communication between the University and students on where its $13.6 billion endowment is being spent.
17 Society paints over Beta Bridge memorial to Nov. 13 shooting victims
By Finn Trainer | 13 hours agoIn response to the decision to paint over the original memorial, multiple members of the University community took to Beta Bridge late Thursday afternoon to paint another memorial.
New School of Data Science building advances interdisciplinary, data-driven work
By Lexie Stadler | 17 hours agoEmma Candelier, director of communications for the SDS, said that the building provides a distinct collaborative space to data science students for the first time.
