Little interest in open seats

Two students expressed interest for the six graduate student seats open in Student Congress at a Board of Elections meeting Monday night.

The generally low interest in these vacant congressional seats highlights a difference in attitudes toward student government participation between graduate and undergraduate students.

Thirty-eight percent of graduate students seats in Congress are currently vacant, compared to 16 percent of undergraduate seats.

Graduate students have different priorities than undergraduates, said Graduate and Professional Student Federation President Keith Lee, which could explain the trend in low student government participation.

“There’s much more time to dedicate to student activity as an undergrad,” said the former Student Congress member.

Historically, many students who fill graduate seats in Congress run as write-in candidates, a process that is less time-consuming and restrictive than running as an official candidate.

Write-in candidates do not have to attend official meetings or submit documents to the Board of Elections unless they win.

“It’s really easy to run as a write-in candidate,” said Emily Danforth, a graduate representative who ran as a write-in.

All four members in District 8, which represents graduate students in the College of Arts and Sciences and the School of Education, were write-in candidates, Danforth said.

Lee said he thinks the nature of graduate education — more focused — often precludes graduate students from devoting extensive time to non-academic pursuits.

This year’s Congress has suffered from a high level of vacant graduate seats. Six of the 16 designated seats are empty.

The special election was provoked by an Oct. 8 lawsuit filed by Danforth. The suit alleged that Student Body President Jasmin Jones and Board of Elections chairman Pete Gillooly had neglected to call for a special election to fill a vacant graduate seat.

The Student Code requires an election be called within 30 days of the seat becoming empty.

Danforth complained that the absence of a special election denied graduate students the opportunity to run for the seats.

In response to the lawsuit, the Board of Elections called the Nov. 5 special election, and Danforth withdrew her suit.

The board held a mandatory candidate’s meeting Thursday, attended by only four students, none of whom were graduates. Danforth said Monday’s meeting was better publicized than the first, explaining the higher graduate student turnout.

Lisa Heimbach, a fourth-year Ph.D. student running in District 10, which represents the medical schools, said she did not attend the first meeting because she had not heard about it.

“We kind of live in a graduate bubble,” she said. “When you’re a graduate student, it can be a little isolating.”

Bryce Creedon, the other graduate candidate at Monday’s meeting, also said he was not aware of the first meeting.



Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.