More than a thousand GCC students flocked to Plaza Vaquero last week to exercise their right to vote for student leaders for the spring semester. According to ASGCC adviser Alen Andriassian, a surprisingly high total of 1,170 ballots was counted.
“This was a pretty big turnout for a non-presidential election,” Andriassian said. “If the blackout hadn’t happened, we would’ve had a record for the number of voters.”
“It doesn’t matter who you vote for, as long as you make your voice heard,” said Elsa Urquilla, one of the former senators of campus relations. Urquilla introduced this year’s Associated Students of GCC (ASGCC) candidates for election at Plaza Vaquero on Nov. 29, formally opening the elections to the students.
Polling booths were set up along the east entrance to the administration building. The polls were open from noon to 3:30 p.m. on Nov. 29 and re-opened on the morning of Nov. 30, finally closing on that evening.
All of the nine candidates for vice president gave their speeches, culminating a week of heavy campaigning throughout the campus. Placards and fliers promoting the candidates had been scattered all over campus beginning Nov. 21.
Most of the nine candidates for vice president and the 20 candidates for senator said that if they should win, they would focus on “representing the students’ interests,” “getting students more involved” and “promoting more fun activities.”
One vice president and three senators were to be elected for each of the ASGCC’s five
committees: administration, finance, campus organizations, campus relations and campus activities.
Some incumbent officers, such as Vice President for Administration Thomas Dryden and Vice President of Campus Organizations Erick Santos, who were running for re-election reminded students of their achievements this semester and encouraged them to “vote for experience.”
Unfortunately, the elections were interrupted at around 6 p.m. on Tuesday by the blackout that shut down power from the entire campus. Most of the candidates were on campus at that time, waiting to campaign to students with evening classes.
“Because of the blackout, there was no voting or campaigning that night,” said Erick Santos, re-elected vice president of campus organizations. “The whole campus was closed.” According to Santos, the ASGCC decided not to give additional hours for voting to make up for the three hours lost due to the power outage.
The election results were announced at noon on Dec. 1 and were posted outside the ASGCC offices at the student center.
Thomas Dryden was re-elected as Vice President of Administration in a close lead of 30 votes over opponent Tina Berberyan.
“My main goal for the next semester is to get everyone in this organization on the same page,” said Dryden immediately after finding out he had won. “I want to get everyone working together, and I want to promote camaraderie.”
The new Vice President of Campus Activities, Sabine Freij, said her focus was on “putting [ASGCC] committees back on track and finding new leaders for the upcoming year.”
Arpine Hovasapyan, elected Vice President of Campus Relations with the most votes out of the four vice presidential candidates, said that she wanted to focus on publicity. “We’re going to focus on getting more students involved,” she said. “We’re going to publicize events and scholarships and make these more interactive.”
“I’ll focus on helping clubs do more,” said re-elected Vice President of Campus Organizations Erick Santos. “We’ll do more fund raisers, have more club activities and bring back the IOC [Inter-Organizational Council] Olympics.”
Following is a complete list of newly elected ASGCC officers:
Vice Presidents
Administration: Thomas Dryden
Campus Activities: Sabine Freij
Campus Relations: Arpine Hovasapyan
Campus Organizations: Erick Santos
Senators
Administration: Edwin Baboomian;?Sevanna Hartoonians;?Bianca Khachatourian
Finance: Artur Karasyov; Meline Khachatourian; Frunzik Oglakchian
Campus Activities: Alina Aghazarian; Aylin Movesesyan; Syuzanna Petrosyan
Campus Relations: Soseh Khodaverdian;?Karla Mercado; Hermine Sarkisyan
Campus Organizations: Araz Essagholian; Luis Mares; Johannes Sanchez