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New UJC members elect Mackenzie Austin chair

Four voting members of executive committee elected Sunday

<p>Mackenzie Austin, a third-year in the College (center, front), will serve as chair in the upcoming term. </p>

Mackenzie Austin, a third-year in the College (center, front), will serve as chair in the upcoming term. 

The University Judiciary Committee held elections Sunday evening to determine the four voting members of the executive committee. Third-year College student MacKenzie Austin was elected chair, third-year Engineering student Brittany Hungate was elected vice chair for sanctions, third-year Commerce student Brendan O’Hare was elected vice chair for first years and third-year Commerce student Miles Jackson was elected vice chair for trials. The four will choose the rest of the committee by next Sunday.

Outgoing Executive Committee Chair Timothy Kimble, a fourth-year College student, said he was pleased with his committee’s term, but that important tasks remain for the upcoming committee.

“I’m happy about the term,” Kimble said. “I think that overall it was obviously a tough academic year for everyone in the University community, and I think that I was really able to see that in my position. I am proud of the work we have done, I’m always proud of the work that UJC does, but that’s not to say that there isn’t improvement that can still be made.”

Kimble said one of the key areas in which he felt the new committee should focus on is playing a more active role in making the University community a safer place, especially in the wake of a couple of turbulent semesters.

“In this past academic year the safety of our community has been brought into question a lot,” Kimble said. “The mission of UJC is to maintain and promote a community of respect, safety and freedom, so I’d really like to see UJC be a voice in that conversation, about how we can make this a safer community.”

Kimble said he was confident the new committee members could do just that. He said three of the members elected to the four executive committee voting positions served on the previous term’s executive committee, and he felt they had a strong background with which to approach the coming year.

The new voting members replace outgoing members Kimble, Vice Chair for Sanctions Sam Brickfield, a third-year Law student, Vice Chair for Trials Matt Thames, a fourth-year Medical student and Vice Chair for First Years Caroline Eckert, a fourth-year Nursing student.

Brickfield said he thought UJC’s last term was a successful one, and that the sanctions the committee decided on were implemented fairly.

“I thought we handled each individual case with integrity… [and] I thought the sanctions we imposed were appropriate,” Brickfield said. “I thought the term went really well.”

Thames also said UJC experienced a positive and personally rewarding term. While he said the last term was a learning experience, he felt he was able to quickly come up to speed with the processes.

“We really accomplished a lot over the course of the new term, my position in particular dealing with trial logistics,” Thames said. “I think the incoming officers show a lot of promise and dedication, and I’m excited for what they can bring.”

As incoming chair, Austin said she looks forward to the commitment and dedication the new committee members will bring to UJC in the upcoming term, something she said she has already seen demonstrated.

“Something really wonderful about the election meeting that we just had is I realized how invested the new representatives are from across the schools,” Austin said. “It’s going to give us a lot of momentum going into this next year with new ideas.”

Jackson said he is eager to represent the Commerce school in the next term as well as improve internal UJC processes as vice chair for trials.

“I look forward to enhancing any process that can be improved…scheduling, anything administratively…also improving the collaboration between judges across the voting members,” Jackson said.

Eckert said she was also pleased with how much they were able to get done this term and that she had confidence the incoming executive committee will have similar success.

“I think we had a great term. I think the group we had on executive panel worked really great together — we were able to accomplish a lot of things,” she said. “I have complete confidence in the four voting members have been chosen. I know that they’re extremely strong, and they will be great in their roles.”

O’Hare shared Eckert’s optimism, saying he and the rest of the executive committee have a good base from which to build. He said one of his focuses will be leading incoming students through recent UJC changes.

“I’m looking forward to carrying on the great work that’s been done by the past vice chair for first years and working with the current and the next first years’ first-year judiciary committee,” O’Hare said. “There have been recent change in our bylaws, changing the jurisdiction of the first-year judiciary committee — we’ll be working with them through that change.”

Hungate, who is replacing Brickfield as vice chair for sanctions, said she gained helpful experience in the last term as a senior investigator and looks forward to the opportunities of the new term.

“I think that as a community we faced a really trying time, not just last semester but this semester as well,” Hungate said. “UJC has a really important role that we can play, not just upholding standards of conduct, but also in a more active way.”

Hungate said while the last term was successful, she wants to help this term’s committee to make more impactful changes.

“We had a lot of success [last term], but I think there’s a lot of room for improvement and a lot of steps we can take,” Hungate said. “We have a good opportunity.”

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