Although the Residence Halls Association's new Executive Board was sworn in Wednesday, one position remains unfilled.
Jasmine Gary, a social relations sophomore and president of Case Hall Black Caucus, did not receive the approval of the General Assembly for the director of racial ethnic and progressive affairs. The bill to hire her into RHA was defeated, 4-16-3.
"Easily, I'm disappointed, of course. (New President) Ernest Drake wouldn't have chosen me for the position if he didn't think I would be effective in the position," Gary said, adding that she won't have a strong opinion until she reads the debate of the assembly. Minutes will be made public once they are approved by the assembly next week.
Drake was not present for most of the meeting because of an illness. He was sworn in after the business portion of the meeting by Vice President Josh Rabinowitz, who ran the meeting.
New Chief of Staff Kevin Newman, who helped to select Gary from a pool of applicants, expressed disappointment in the outcome.
"Whenever a hiring committee brings forth a candidate, they're going to give what is, in the opinion of the committee, the best candidate," he said, adding that RHA has a number of options as next steps, including reinterviewing old candidates or opening the positions to new applicants.
But a different candidate did receive approval from the assembly Wednesday. Communication sophomore Geoff Schwartz took over as director of public relations and advertising with unanimous approval from the assembly, one of only two new hires to do so.
"It felt like I accomplished something," he said.
Also during the meeting, the assembly voted to allocate money. The African Student Union made its presentation, requesting $100. But with about $3,100 left in its general fund, and only two more meetings left in the semester, the assembly was willing to allot more money. The bill was amended to give $1,200 and passed by consent.
Union member Christopher Ifeanyi-Nwanze made the presentation to the assembly.
"All I can do is sit back and smile about it," he said.
Additionally, the assembly added a new article to the organization's bylaws. The bill, which was sent back to committee in March, governs at-large seats on the General Assembly. This time around, the bill passed, 23-1-1.
"The primary difference is that there is a trial period," said Tom Edwards, Williams Hall representative and policy committee member, explaining that an at-large representative must attend six consecutive meetings before he or she is able to vote.
"We should make it as hard as possible to get a seat on the (General Assembly). We can't make the organization too transient," he said.
