Election reveals eight of 16 Union Board leaders for 2012

Union Board election results revealed eight directors for the 2012 calendar year. The 24-hour long elections ended Tuesday.

Campaigning began Nov. 28 when 34 students ran for 16 available positions on the board of directors: 13 committee directors and three executive officers.

Hillary Anderson, Erin Brown, Brad Domash, Ronald Gilbert, Sam Shechtman, Rachel Sheppard, Riley Voss and Brianna Whittenbarger will begin their committee directorships in late January, along with eight more students, who will be selected today after a separate interview process with student leaders.

After the election and interview processes have yielded 16 Union Board leaders, they will attend a leadership retreat where they will be assigned their committees or executive roles.

Anderson, who has served as a member of the board’s outreach committee since December 2010, said the wait between the time the polls closed until the time she was notified of the election results was the longest 30 minutes of her life.

Although she initially missed the phone call, receiving the voice mail informing her she was elected was a great feeling, she said.

“The directors who are on the board right now are very good at what they do,” she said. “Everyone will be very supportive of the new board members.”

Riley Voss served as the board’s director of debates and issues for the 2011 calendar year and was re-elected Tuesday night.

While he said his focus for the last few weeks of 2011 will be on finishing his current term, the Union Board has processes set up where the old board fosters the education of the new board when it comes time to make the transition.

He said the current board has a commitment to initiate a feeling of comfort for the incoming board, especially because it looks as if the board may have many new faces.

Of those elected Tuesday, only Riley had served as a director in the past.
Lisa Wagner, Union Board election selection commissioner, said the election had a good student voter turnout.

“We are very thankful to everyone that voted,” she said.