Student vote decides 8 of 16 Union Board directors

When the results of the Union Board election were announced Nov. 14, it was revealed the 2013 board will include six new directors and two returning faces.

Erin Brown, current director of design, and Eric Farr, current director of debates and issues, were re-elected as directors.

Kellie Boberek, Kelsey Padgham, Alexis Parrill, Marco Pineda, Asher Wittenberg and Paul Zuradzki were also elected to the 104th Union Board.

In addition to the eight directors elected by the student body vote, student leaders from several campus organizations will select another eight through interviews on Dec. 1, creating a total of 16 board members.

Hearing the news she was elected surprised and excited Boberek, a freshman.
The voting ended at 8 p.m. Nov. 13, and Boberek learned the results from a phone call only a half-hour later.

“I was in the middle of class and I had a minor freakout,” Boberek said.  “I went into a little bit of shock. I was very, very surprised. As a freshman, I didn’t think I had any chance of being elected.”

After all 16 members of the board have been chosen, they will embark on a retreat and undergo an initiation process. At this point, executive and committee positions will be selected.

Committee titles can change from year to year, though core committees, such as the concerts committee, have stayed in place for years.

“The reason we do that is because our mission as the board is to represent the
student body,” Brown said. “Since their needs are constantly changing and evolving, we adjust to represent them.”

The training period will allow the board members to become comfortable in their new roles.

“Right now, I have to figure out the ins and outs of being a director,” Wittenberg said.
The board will make the official switch Jan. 19.

Zurazdki explained the main goals for the new board.

“I think in general, across the board, we want to try to engage more students,” he said.
He suggested one way to do this is through providing more interaction during events.
“The tradition of bringing in well-known and thought-provoking speakers will continue,” Zurazdki said. “But I think we can try to make it less one-sided and let the students discuss with them.”

Wittenberg also stressed the importance of student involvement with the new board.
“Union Board doesn’t serve much of a function unless students are actively involved,” he said. “The more people have a say, the more we can cater events to their interests.”

Brown also said she looks forward to spreading student awareness about the existence of the board. She said she knows what it is like to come into the board as a new director with this goal in mind, having been in that situation a year ago.

Now, she said looks forward to working with the new board.

“They have pretty big shoes to fill,” she said.