The University Judiciary Committee elected the voting members of its new Executive Committee Thursday. Fourth-year Curry student Michael Chapman was elected UJC chair.
According to UJC’s bylaws, the Executive Committee is elected by a majority vote among the members of the incoming committee in an election overseen by the outgoing committee chair. The four voting members of the Executive Committee include the chair, vice chair for first-years, vice chair for trials and the vice chair for sanctions, and are voted upon in that order.
Chapman, who will replace fourth-year College student Merriam Mikhail, served as vice chair for first-years during the past year.Chapman said one of the incoming Executive Committee’s goals is to better educate students about UJC.
“We are ready to not just engage the fellow members of UJC but also the community as a whole,” he said.
Chapman said his role as UJC chair is to not only oversee UJC’s day-to-day operations but to also be “the face of UJC.”
Second-year College student Will Bane, who was elected to replace Chapman as vice chair for first-years, also emphasized the importance of education and communication during the new committee’s term.
“We’re trying to make sure every U.Va. student and member of the community has an idea of what UJC does [and that they] have a sense of ownership over UJC,” Bane said.
Bane, who served as a UJC counselor and chair of the Issues Subcommittee during the past year, said there are three major components to his role as vice chair for first-years: orienting new students to UJC’s system, “spearheading the recruitment process” and selecting and overseeing the First Year Judiciary Committee.
“The student body has a low level of [knowledge about] UJC because they didn’t have a thorough and interesting training or orientation,” Bane said. He also said he hopes to work on improving summer and fall orientation sessions so that students gain an understanding about UJC even before they step on Grounds.
Third-year Architecture student Marnie Coons, meanwhile, was elected as the vice chair for trials and said she looks forward to addressing different areas of concern. Coons, who will replace fourth-year College student Grayson Lambert and previously served as an Architecture representative, said one of her personal goals is to increase cohesiveness among UJC judges. She also said she hopes to get judges more involved in the organization’s various subcommittees, noting that if judges become more involved, they will better understand their role in “the larger picture of UJC.”
Lastly, third-year Engineering student Eric Schneiter will continue to serve as the vice chair for sanctions. Though Schneiter served in this position last year, he said there are still several changes that he wishes to make during the next year.
“What’s happened in the last couple of years is we’ve seen a decrease in the number of sanctions organizations,” and it is now important to find other avenues for students to complete the possible community service requirements they can receive if sanctioned, he said. He also plans to streamline the sanctioning process, making it easier to understand.
The streamlining will make “sanctioning a lot easier for myself, the students involved, and the sanction contacts,” Schneiter said.
In addition to outlining its goals for the next year, one of the Executive Committee’s first tasks was to fill the rest of the Executive Committee’s non-voting positions.
Alison Deich and John Zettler were appointed as Senior Counselors, Meghan Iorianni was appointed as Senior Investigator and Portia Henry was appointed as Senior Educator. Additionally, Gavin Reddick and Yiding Li were jointly appointed to fulfill the new position of Senior Data Manager.
Chapman, Bane, Coons and Schneiter all noted that because they each are from a different school and have all had different experiences within UJC, their diversity will benefit both the student body and the entire UJC throughout their terms.
“We are here to promote the safety, respect, and freedom” of students here at the University, Chapman said.
According to UJC’s bylaws, the new Executive Committee will take charge after April 1.
Halley Epstein, chair of the First Year Judiciary Committee and Madison Rabb, vice-chair of the First Year Judiciary Committee, also serve as non-voting members of the Executive Committee. Their terms started in October and last one year.
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