Voting opens for Union Board directorships

Less than a week after national and local elections, IU students will vote in an election even closer to campus.

Union Board, the largest student programming organization on campus,  will have its annual election for directorship positions starting at 8 p.m. today and lasting until 8 p.m. Tuesday.

Students can vote online at go.iu.edu/6dQ or in person in the Indiana Memorial Union East Lounge.

Union Board President AJ O’Reilly, a senior, emphasized the importance of voting in the election.

“Realistically, your vote will dictate who is on board, and that’s the first step to getting the programs you want,” O’Reilly said. “All of our funds come from every single person on campus, and we want each person’s opinion to be heard.”

The Union Board budget is funded by $8.56 of every student’s annual activity fees.
Union Board programs have ranged from a public conversation with political consultant Karl Rove and former White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs this year, to a concert by Lil Wayne and Nicki Minaj in 2011.

Currently, the board consists of 13 committee directors and three executive officers, in addition to the president and two vice presidents.

On the ballot, the student body will also decide whether to ratify changes to the Union Board Constitution, which proposes changing the number of executive positions from three to four.

Other changes include permanently moving election dates to before Thanksgiving, adding more people to the selection committee and a statement about non-discrimination.

Sixteen of the 21 candidates on the ballot will be chosen to the board of directors.
Eight will be elected by the student vote, and the other eight will be selected by a group of student leaders Nov. 30.

The 16 individuals selected to the board will then be trained and go on a retreat, where the new leaders will discuss which committees to create.

“The point of Union Board is to program for the needs of the campus,” said Brad Domash, Union Board director of public relations and marketing. “Based on past boards and what they discuss, they pick out what the different committees are.”
Internal elections for the proposed committee and executive positions will then occur.

The board will make the official switch Jan. 19.

“I hope the new board can continue reaching out to everyone on campus,” Domash said. “We just hope that Union Board continues to be part of the vibrant social life at IU.”