Student election proves leaders

ASWC, Celeste Grey, Duncan Ketel, dynamic, Issue 13, Leandro Fefer, News - By Leandro Fefer on Thursday, December 8, 2011 - 04:59

All 437 votes are in for this year’s ASWC election and of the 30 percent Whittier College’s student body that voted has elected sophomore Duncan Ketel for president, sophomore Rachel Bickert for vice president, junior Magali Gutierrez for Campus Relations Coordinator and sophomore Emilie Blechman for secretary. Ketel won over second place sophomore Chris Polsi by a narrow margin of 36 votes, to take the election with 186 votes, approximately 12 percent of the total student population. The LEAP Office provided statistics on the election results. Ketel will take office next January as president of ASWC Senate.

The election ran in the same fashion as past elections. A ballot box was set up outside the Campus Inn for two days during the lunch and dinner hours and students were able to vote from a selection of candidates or put in a write in. In comparison to last year’s election, current president senior Tyler Zickel viewed this election as a success.

“Great turnout, for Whittier,” Zickel said. “There were more voters this year than last year.”
According to Zickel, student government was attempting to create an online voting system, but was unsuccessful due to logistical issues. “An electronic voting process will likely be in place by next year,” Zickel said.

With an electronic system in place, Zickel believes a greater percentage of Whittier’s student body would vote in AWSC elections. Approximately 700 of Whittier’s students (44 percent) are commuters who may not have been as likely to pass by the C.I. to vote than a student living on campus. Certainly, some sort of reform to the process would likely change the outcome. This year AWSC secretary senior Jenna Ririe organized Whittier’s first presidential debate that was attended by approximately 20 to 25 students.

“Not too bad for the first [debate],” Ririe said. “It’s hard to get students active but 100 more people voted this year than last year.”

Difficulty with getting students motivated was a key point for this election’s candidates. It was one of Ketel’s platforms for running, according to a statement he gave to the Quaker Campus in the Dec. 1 issue. Ketel hopes that in his term, he can increase student involvement with their government. However, according to Zickel, this will be no easy task. “Student apathy is the biggest problem we face on Senate,” Zickel said.

“It has always been a struggle and I doubt this will change in the next four years.” Zickel’s statement would seem to be confirmed by the attitudes of a group of six first-years.
When asked, three of the six had no idea what day elections were until they saw the ballot box outside the C.I. and first-year Dyami Bryant-Escobar was part of this group. Bryant-Escobar did not vote in the election. “Why vote?” Bryant-Escobar said.

Junior Sam Morris had some opinions on why a student might not vote. “[The election] was really hard to take serious,” Morris said. “Candidates were advertising their names and faces, not their political stances and agendas.” Ketel believes that the people who really cared voted, and while happy about the results of the election, Ketel admits disappointment at the turnout. “The campus should reflect the students interests,” Ketel said.

Ketel’s plans to increse student involvement include facebook, e-mails, posters, having office hours and even door-to-door dorm canvassing. “I think one-on-one communication is the most important,” Ketel said. “There will always be people who do not care. That being said, Senate should never stop reaching out.”

Ketel hopes to facilitate students to improve their own campus in the coming year; however, he realizes this is not something he can do alone.

“I’m here to help students have an informed opinion and a voice,” Ketel said. “More than that, I really can’t give you. It’s a two way street.” Hopefully his experience as a representative on Senate and head of Student Advocacy Committee will propel him forward in this upcoming term, towards a more united and involved Whittier College.

Ketel will be inaugurated this Monday, Dec. 12 at 7 p.m. in Mendenhall.