The election of 11 new representatives to Student Congress on Thursday filled all empty seats in the legislative body.
But while current members said they are excited about the election’s results, leaders are uncertain how long the new representatives will fulfill their duties, given historically low graduate student participation in Congress.
Six of the seven graduate students were elected as write-in candidates, and some did not make the decision until that night.
Several of the seats filled in Thursday’s election originally became empty after graduate students resigned their seats since they were elected last February.
These students cited a lack of time for extracurricular activities as their primary reason for their lower participation in student government compared to undergraduates.
Student Congress, made up of 41 students, is charged with representing both undergraduate and graduate students, including dispersing more than $350,000 a year in student fees.
Seven graduate students were elected to Congress through Thursday’s election.
The results released by the Board of Elections show that 4,851 votes were cast.
The special election was prompted by an Oct. 8 lawsuit filed by graduate student representative Emily Danforth against Student Body President Jasmin Jones and Board of Elections Chairman Pete Gillooly.
Danforth alleged that the absence of a special election to fill empty seats designated for graduate students denied them full representation in Congress.
At a Graduate and Professional Student Federation Senate meeting Thursday night, Danforth and Joe Levin-Manning, speaker of Student Congress, encouraged graduate students interested in running for Congress to run write-in campaigns so that the seats would be filled.
Write-in candidate Serena Witzke, who decided to run at the meeting, won the vacant District 8 seat with only seven votes, according to election results. District 8 represents graduate students in the College of Arts and Sciences and School of Education.
Newly elected graduate representative Adam Campbell, who will represent students in the medical schools, said he plans on serving in Congress for the remainder of his time at UNC.
“As far as other members go, I guess I couldn’t speak,” he said.
Both Levin-Manning and Gillooly said they did not know how long all seats in Congress will remain occupied.
Levin-Manning said he hopes newly elected members of Congress don’t resign, but he said he would rather they gave up their seats if they did not plan to execute their jobs effectively.
He also said the new members will have a positive effect on Congress.
“I think it’s going to offer more feedback and more sides to the argument,” he said. “I think it’s definitely going to add to the color of the conversation.”
Congressional winners by district:
District 3
South campus
Six seats, two open
Winners: Adam Jutha and Evan Ross
District 4
Granville Towers
Two seats, one open
Winner: Mario Benavente
District 6
Off campus
10 seats, one open
Winner: Will McKeen
District 8
Graduate students, College of Arts and Sciences
Five seats, one open
Winner: Serena Witzke
District 9
Graduate students, professional schools
Five seats, three open
Winners: Crystal Boni, Lace Wayman and Chris Fowler
District 10
Graduate students, medical school
Six seats, three open
Winners: Matt Skancke, Lisa Heimbach and Adam Campbell
Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.
