Archivist note: Originally published on the Elections WordPress site. Sep 21, 2014 @ 22:59, “Fall 2014 Candidates’ Forum Minutes”
Fall 2014 Candidates Forum Minutes
Disclaimer: The following minutes are not a full transcription of the events of the Fall 2014 Candidates’ Forum. For a full recording, please check out the audio recording available on the Elections YouTube account.
Off-Campus Rep
Brenna Levitin & Ava Hawkinson
Fergie Liang
Jingling Li (Renee)
Julia: Kim ‘18: Why do you want to run for this position?
Brenna: we care very much about the ff campus community and their interaction with the on campus community and want to bridge the gap between the two of them
Fergie: lived off campus as a sophomore and is very aware of wants to help people . if they are struggling with how they are living they would struggle with exams and homework
Renee: wants to be a resource for off campus students and researched all the available houses and apartments nearby
Pamudu Tennakoon ‘15: There are students living as far as Overbrook, and maybe in the city. How do you plan to make sure that all different groups, no matter how far away they’re living, are aware of what’s happening and fully represented in SGA?
Ava: wants to plan with all off campus students so they can be involved in activities during the daytime because it can be hard to go to club meetings at 8pm
Fergie: have students support each other when emergencies happen. if you need to carpool, etc, it’s good to know who is living near you
Renee: how to make big things like plenary accessible to students who live off campus
Charlie Bruce ‘16: How do you plan to involve McBrides who live off campus?
Brenna: we’re both transfers students and already have a good working relationship with the mcbrides. I am the transfer advocate and i’m already in contact with the McBride Advocate and so we already have a line of dialogue
Renee: connect with residential offices to know about the address of McBrides to have meetings off campus as well as on campus
Fergie: not treat McBride students as a special group they have more life experience and see how they can help us. they don’t need us to take care of them
Melanie Bahti ‘16: Do you live off campus? Where, and how long have you lived off campus?
Ava: I live in Mermont apartments, brenna lives next to me
Fergie: I have been living on campus since I was a sophomore and have been living in Mermont for a year and ____ for a few months
Renee: I have been living in gables for about 3 or 4 months
Class of 2015 Songsmistress/master/mistex
Alex Mannix (no longer running)
Genesis Feliz
Syona Arora ‘15: Why are you running for this position?
Alex: I am running because i’ve wanted step sings is one of my favorite positions and I know it is a lot of responsibility
Genesis: It would be really fun and I am willing to take on the responsibility and traditions are really fun for me
Charlie Bruce ‘16: If you had one song that described your life, what would it be?
Genesis: huge Iggy Azalia fan, maybe one of her songs, maybe “Fancy”
Alex: Katy Perry’s “Roar,” it is really empowering whether you are going through a breakup or didn’t get a promotion
Pamudu Tennakoon ‘15: Can you please sing [the song that represents your life] for us?
Genesis: I’m so fancy
Alex: And you’re gonna hear me roar
Pamudu Tennakoon ‘15: Planning Lantern Night as the senior Songsmistress/master/mistex is a big time commitment, so what other time commitments do you have?
Alex: I’m a member of the extreme keys and works at the alumnI association and is thesising but is good about getting things done
Genesis: soccer with practice games, and is thesising
Head of Committee on Public Safety
Rhea ManglanI ‘17
Syona Arora ‘15: Why are you interested in running for this position?
Rhea: I transferred from a school that was in the most dangerous parts of southern california and I know bryn mawr is different but we are in close proximity to philadelphia and we are out late at night and I want them to know their resources
Charlie Bruce ‘16: What is something that Campus Safety does that you don’t think students know about, and that you’d like to educate them about?
Rhea: the student employment in campus safety, if you’re sick, you know who you go to
Shirah Kraus ‘18: How would you disseminate this information?
Rhea: emails, facebooks, social media students are always on their laptops
Presidents of the Class of 2018
Maika and Cassie (No longer running)
Ann and Connie
Syona Arora ‘15: Why are you interested in running for this position?
Marika: we really want to join SGA since we heard about it when touring the school and ant to be very active and gets things done
Ann: connie and I applied early decision through posse because we found something empowering and immediately fell in love with it and want to make it a better place
Charlie Bruce ‘16: One of the problems that we have is making sure that first-years understand the importance of self-governance, the Honor Code, and Plenary. How would you get your class to get really excited about these things?
Cassie: they don’t feel like they know people so we can bring it up in class and without friends so if you have a friend going you would want to go to and have teas and parties before them so they could go as a group
Connie: im a big fan of food so have teas beforehand and say we have food
Shirah Kraus ‘18: Why do you think self-governance is so important?
Ann: i’ve been to a few sga meetings like sga 101 and what made me really excited and spreading the facts of the self government association and share why sga is totally awesome
Marika: what we have discussed and we are adults now and why should we have the administration tell us what to do. sga is really empowering
Hannah Bernhardt ‘18: What experiences have prepared you for being the class president?
Cassie: i’ve done a lot pf things that require organization and planning and we’ve both done volunteering and research which requires organization and we’re both really friendly and easy to talk to
Connie: in highschool I was a part of a program called youth and government and I was speaker of the house and… annie has been president of history reading group and they debate about recent issues and we’ve both been volunteers such as key club and poetry slam
Syona Arora ‘15: How do you think that you’ll work well together, since you’re both running as pairs?
Cassie: we live right next to each other so if there is ever a problem I would just slam on her door and we eat every meal together and are very close
Ann: we don’t have many classes together but we have meetings weekly with other posse scholars and we consider ourselves as two peas in a pod and have similar interests but can also connect on a personal level
Pensby Rep
Xavia Miles ‘16
Rhett Richardson ‘15
Pamudu Tennakoon ‘15: Why are you running for this position?
Rhett: I held the position last year and it has been a bit rocky and has not had a clear meaning and have been working with people the last year to work on what the rep should and can do and I want conversations on diversity to continue throughout the year and I want sga positions to be held by a more diverse group of people
Xavia: The knowledge that it was not concrete encouraged me to run. I know a lot of people have been having conversations on campus don’t want bad event s to spark conversations but ……sorry Xavia: have convos independent of these events
Charlie Bruce ‘16: How would you get students to Pensby?
Rhett: as a person with a disability I don’t think pensby is accessible and it is one of the hardest places to get to . it is a big deal, host conversations in the campus center, and even if the conversations have to happen late at night with faculty and staff members be able to do things early on
Xavia: in addition to the campus center dalton and erdman. continue with teas and including faculty and staff because they have so much information about historical context
Charlie Bruce ‘16: Pensby has a wide variety of under-utilized resources (eg. library, staff). How can you encourage students to tap into those resources?
Xavia: we think of diversity in a way that s visible but we have diversity of thought and religion and if we can tap into that facet of the community it would be really important
Rhett:we’ve been thinking about a better location for that in general adn having the resources and people more brought up and visible before something goes wrong and have teas that are just a meet and greet
Shirah Kraus ‘18: What kinds of things would you want to do that are more active, and less just about discussing?
Rhett:the sga position is supposed to be a liaison and so we are not geared towards action but supporting action and telling students about it
Xavia: we are here to facilitate conversation and if you are involved in action people might think you are geared toward on side more than the other
Rachel Bruce ‘18: What kinds of events would you be willing to facilitate to address big diversity-related issues on campus?
Xavia: I have been in contact with snixon immediately after the event and I think before facilitation we need to streamline the information and after approach both sides of the discussion and hope people are able to talk and see what people are thinking
Rhett:as a liaison we would do a lot of reporting back of whichever conversations happened and being involved and in contact with snixon and amo groups
Syona Arora ‘15: What current or prior experience do you have working with Pensby, or what other affiliations with Pensby do you have?
Rhett:I was the pensby rep and have been involved with several amo groups and am president of gendrerquest and rainbow alliances and social justice training program
Xavia: customs committee and e board of amos and spoken with people in rainbow alliance and zamI to see how they can be connected\
Molly Mac Dougall ‘16: This position is, according to the SGA Constitution, a member of the Elections Board. What would you for that part of your role?
Rhett:being in the election and participating would be very difficult and see that there is accurate representation of the student
Xavia: think it is really important to encourage people from everyone and encourage people to run
Members at Large
Shirah Kraus
Rachel Bruce
Matison Hearn-Desautels
Angela Motte
Julia Kim
Shaina Robinson
Stephanie Montalvan
Syona Arora ‘15: Why are you interested in running for this position?
Stephanie: interested because I am a latina and I am from the south and I want to make sure more people like me are represented
Shaina: as a first year I felt very empowered and I feel like member at large is a great way to intersect
Julia: I really appreciate the theme of sga of academic integrity and mutual respect and I want to be a connection between the committee and sga
Angela: I love bryn mawr. it is really hard to represent everyone
Matison: i’ve only been here for a few weeks but have already been positively affected by sgs and am looking forward to giving back
Rachel: so important that we have a voice with the administration and I think it would be a fantastic role to play
Shirah: I love getting you know people and I love the idea of self governance and we have to power to do something and not just complain about it
Charlie Bruce ‘16: Have you ever attended an SGA meeting?
Shirah: yes
Rachel: yes
Matison: yes
Angela: yes
Julia: yes
Shaina: yes
Stephanie:
yes
Charlie Bruce ‘16: Describe self-governance in one word.
Stephanie: empowerment
Shaina: empowerment
Julia: service
Angela: independent
Matison: empowerment
Rachel: wonderful
Shirah: bryn-mawr
Syona Arora ‘16: How can you assure us that you’ll be able to perform your duties promptly?
Shirah – today is my roommate’s birthday and we planned everything and it was prompt and organized I check my email multiple times a day
Rachel: when my phone buzzes i’m so happy to get an email and i’ma very prompt when I reply to emails
Matison: I have an app that buzzes to me and i’m really excited to read the first few lines of my email secretary and ps
Angela: I keep my phones on all the time because I am a co a nd i’m used to getting information to a lot of people
Julia: I have my email linked I am very organized and I use my calendar and I will be responsible to carry=out these duties and can distribute in 2 hours as esl I have to be aware of grammar and will try my best
Shaina: I know how important it is to respond to emails as soon as I get them is a priority and it is a level of respect
Stephanie: I was president of the journalism club and I know how to reply to emails and prioritize commitments
Charlie Bruce ‘16: Every week I include a fun question on the attendance sheet at SGA meetings. What question should I include on the attendance sheet this Sunday?
Stephanie: what was the last meal you had
Shaina: if you could travel to any planet
Julia: : my if you had a jar what you would fill it up with
Angela: guess a number
Matison: is there such thing as the best bread
Rachel: if you had a baby walrus what would you name it
Shirah: if you were a kitchen utensil what would you be
Grace Kim ‘16: What are some ideas you have for getting others really excited about SGA, or to come to SGA meetings and things like Plenary?
Shirah: I live in radnor and we are very enthusiastic and it is infectious and get food and sga meetings and a motion to commotion and have a 2 minute dance party
Rachel: make food together like a cookie exchange and use questions and parody songs promoting and saying how you can be empowered
Matison: have office hours and viciously push plenary and sga meetings and sga events and theme sga meetings
Angela: stress how important sga is and say what we would not have without sga
Julia: it is such a wonderful thing and it is crucial to communicate with people making rules
Shaina: explain how it works at its process and it such an empowering tool and dispelling myths about it being
Stephanie: speaking about sga with passion to make them come to meetings and attend events
Faculty Rep
Kristan Sumner‘17
favorite color is green
Syona Arora ‘15: Why are you interested in running for this position, and what special interests do you have in this position?
Kristian: I was nominated and I am very dedicated to things involving faculty at bryn mawr which is related to my plenary resolution and help represent faculty to student body and vise versa i’m super excited about this
Syona Arora ‘15: What experience do you have working with faculty that would help you to work as a liaison between the students and the faculty?
Kristian: my experience with faculty would come from high school because i’ve only been here for a year but in highschool I was on the board to pick the new psychology teacher they asked my opinion and helped my ask questions
Charlie Bruce ‘16: Who is the coolest professor you know, and why?
Kristian: Tamara Davis dept chair of Biology and I am working in her lab now and she is my unofficial faculty advisor and I can talk to her about stuff and she does not talk to me in a condescending way she talks to me about her life which is really cool
Charlie Bruce ‘16: What are your initiatives for the faculty?
Kristian: my initiatives would be to bring insight into the lives of students and especially students of color and understand the awesomeness of both worlds and articulate what we want to express to the current faculty and use my ships with the faculty to help the students know where the faculty come from when they make decisions
Angela Motte ‘17: What makes you excited for this role?
Kristian: last year I felt like I couldn’t enact change on campus so I would like to be in a position to make change
Syona Arora ‘15: How do you feel about self-governance on campus?
Kristian: I think that SGA is awesome because you do not have people who are not a part of our community therefore rules that faculty would want to implement would not be in our best interest and therefore we should be able to govern ourselves.