ASMSU elected comparative culture and politics sophomore Katherine “Cookie” Rifiotis as the new vice president for internal administration at Thursday night’s general assembly meeting. The position was previously held by political science senior Jason Porter, who resigned last month because of a difference in views with ASMSU leadership.
Rifiotis ran against interdisciplinary studies in social science junior Ashley Ariel Carr, political science junior Max Donovan, clinical laboratory sciences junior Jonathan Grant and physics sophomore Jordan Stomps. The new vice president would need a majority vote of 17 to enter the position and Rifiotis was elected with 18.
As the newest member of the Office of the President, Rifiotis will monitor the movement of legislation, serve as the senior ex-officio member of the Policy Committee, record and maintain minutes of the general assembly and steering committee and serve as the undergraduate adviser to the class councils among other tasks per the ASMSU manual.
Rifiotis has been with ASMSU for the past year and a half. Prior to becoming vice president for internal administration, she was the secretary of the Freshman Class Council, James Madison College representative in the general assembly and most recently, the community liaison for ASMSU’s Governmental Affairs office.
“I believe that this position has the unique opportunity of making people feel heard, empowered and represented,” she said.
Through this position, Rifiotis hopes to strengthen the core of the organization, she said. She wants to fill the general assembly seats, better connect the current general assembly representatives with their colleges, implement a mentorship program within ASMSU and better engage with international students, among other goals.
One major goal Rifiotis has for ASMSU is to start tackling issues that affect undergraduate students who live off campus.
“Issues on campus are not issues just on campus — they’re issues with students, and students live in various townships, not only in East Lansing,” she said. “So I think that one of the things I want to do is really make sure our policies and things that we’re working for are issues that are standing to that as well.”
With the recent controversies surrounding the organization, general assembly members asked each candidate how they would move forward to create a more positive image of ASMSU. Rifiotis said there is a need for cohesive leadership and a need to engage everyone.
“I think that first and foremost, I would make sure that everyone here is engaged,” she said. “Also, just being able to incorporate and magnifying the voices as they’re being said, not just translating it into what we best think, but negotiating things during the process so that transparency is transparency in each of the steps of anything that we’re going for.”
Support student media!
Please consider donating to The State News and help fund the future of journalism.
Discussion
Share and discuss “ASMSU elects new Vice President for Internal Administration ” on social media.
