The Student Government Association at Ramapo held elections for eight open senator positions, and the results of the election were announced on Monday.
The newly elected senators are Megan Patel with 101 votes, Richard Apramian with 92 votes, Franklin Cole with 88 votes, Kandace Kaplan with 87 votes, Geline De Guzman with 77 votes, Matthew Lee 76 votes, Vivek Pandey 72 votes and Frank Albergo 62 votes.
Senate President Mark Ellebracht said that the new senators “seem enthusiastic, dedicated, and innovative” despite the limited interaction he had with them. “I’m looking forward to working with them all,” Ellebracht added.
The majority of the newly elected senators are freshmen, but they are majoring in diverse fields, such as biology, accounting, economics and computer science.
The eight new senators were sworn into duty on Tuesday. However, they still haven’t been assigned the department they are going to work with for the duration of their term.
The new senators took an oath to “uphold the mission of the Student Government Association and serve the student body.”
“I will work tirelessly to advocate for all students and all facets of the community and will be open and available for any student at any time,” the oath went on. “I welcome all students to participate in student leadership and will present all issues with workable solutions to Ramapo College officials.”
Vivek Pandey is one of the newly elected SGA senators. He is an international student from Nepal and the only non-American in the organization. Pandey’s main goal is to “intermix this community of international, out-of-state, and in-state students.”
“My primary focus will be on promoting diversity,” said Pandey.
Another goal that Pandey has for improving the Ramapo community is to create and promote more events on the weekends and thus retain students on campus.
According to Ellebracht, candidates were required “to submit a biography and fill out petitions demonstrating their support from students.”
The process was organized by Vice President Lauren Fuhring and advertised by Secretary of Public Relations Michael Dunn. The elections took place online at the Student Web Self-Service between Sept. 23rd and Sept. 29th.
All students at Ramapo were eligible to vote for up to eight candidates. There were 14 students who ran, but two candidates were disqualified in the middle of the week-long voting period, according to SGA President Vincent Guinta.
Guinta said the two individuals were found to have broken the campaigning rule that prohibits candidates from “dorm storming,” or going door to door in residence halls to solicit votes.
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avasilev@ramapo.edu
