The Associated Students of Michigan State University (ASMSU) announced eight new General Assembly (GA) representatives across six different colleges Tuesday.
ASMSU announces results of fall General Assembly election
Here's a list of the new representatives and the college each represents:
- Carl Grondin, College of Arts and Letters
- Caitlin Finerty, College of Communication Arts and Sciences
- Daniyal Dar, College of Engineering
- Harsna Chahal, Lyman Briggs College
- Ishaan Modi, Lyman Briggs College
- Devin Woodruff, College of Social Science
- Julian Trevino, College of Social Science
- Lee Ackerson, College of Veterinary Medicine
This election was the first ever fall election held by ASMSU in order to fill a GA that was more empty than not. This also meant that for the first time ever, freshmen could run to represent their colleges.
Rep. Woodruff made ASMSU history as the first and only freshman to win a seat on the GA.
"I'm just excited and ecstatic that I'll be elected and serving the students because as a freshman it's very hard to try to reach out to students," Woodruff said. "I'm excited and ready to go."
Just under two-thirds of all GA seats are filled, meaning thousands of students between multiple colleges will remain unrepresented as no candidates sought to fill their seats. These colleges include the College of Music, College of Nursing and the Residential College of Arts and Humanities.
Although candidates ran for a seat within several other colleges, including the College of Agricultural and Natural Resources and the Eli Broad College of Business, they did not reach the minimum 25 votes required to win their seats. ASMSU President Abii-Tah Bih expressed disappointment that not enough people voted to fill these seats.
"For people who knew about elections and chose not to vote, this is a stark reminder that representation only occurs when people believe that their votes matter and when they actually take action and cast their votes," Bih said.
Although ASMSU is left without a full GA, Bih is still excited to see new representatives join the ranks.
"I hope that they take the time to digest this victory because they will go down in history as the representatives who were elected by the first special fall election by ASMSU," Bih said. "Once the hysteria and excitement has passed, it's important that they get to work. There is a lot to be done, and I cannot wait to see legislation that they write to support students in such tumultuous times."
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