Barrett Smith '13 Wins Election by Six Votes

On Tuesday, Sept. 25 the Student Government Association (SGA) announced the election of Barrett Smith ’13 to the position of Student Co-Chair of Community Council (SCOCC) by a margin of just six votes. Smith beat out Kathryn Benson ’13 for the position in a contest that garnered approximately 25 percent of student voter turnout.

The SGA announced the victory in an email to the student body at 1:31 p.m., just over one hour after the polls closed. Smith secured 336 to Benson’s 330 votes in the election.

In an interview with the Campus following the announcement, Smith was eager to begin work with the Community Council in the implementation of the objectives outlined in his platform.

“The social honor code is at the top of my agenda,” he said. “It will naturally bring students together to write and debate; I think that this general assembly-type model will get students involved.”

During the election, Smith campaigned on the idea of enacting a social honor code, an agreement drafted by students that would hold them accountable for their actions within the community.

Smith also promoted the idea of trying to encourage a more representative democracy with respect to student involvement in College decision-making procedures.

“I’m disappointed in the 25 percent voter turnout,” said Smith. Smith’s campaign emphasized the critical importance of the student body in institutional decision making.

“I’m just excited to get to work and start making things happen,” he added.

Following the election, Benson was supportive of Smith’s election.

“I am excited to see where the year goes and to see Barrett work for his goals,” wrote Benson in an email.

A total of 666 ballots were cast in the election, just slightly higher than the 622 votes cast in the SCOCC election in 2010.

Smith will join Dean of the College Shirley Collado and the other members of the Community Council in the organization’s first board meeting on Monday Oct. 1. The meetings are open to all students.

First-Year Senator election results were also announced on Tuesday. Graham Shaw ’16 and Hasher Nisar ’16 won the two open positions with 68 and 61 votes, respectively.

Shaw and Nisar beat opponents Roy Wang ’16 and J Whelan ’16 by a significant margin. Wang received 35 votes and Whelan finished with 30 votes.

The First-Year Senators will now attend all SGA meetings and represent the interests of the first-year class.