Feb 2020 Election: Candidate Statements

President

Rem Aitbouchireb ’21

My name is Rem Aitbouchireb (she/her/hers), class of 2021, and I will be running for SGA President! I was inspired by one of my professors who once told me that if I ever wanted to get something done in life, I would have to just go for it. She said that if I didn’t want people to walk over me that I would have to insert myself into uncomfortable spaces and become a part of tough conversations if I wanted to enact change on this campus. So I started thinking about my time at Bryn Mawr and what I wanted to leave here having accomplished and for me that was running for a position on the executive board of SGA. At first, I was convinced I should run for Treasurer because I knew that is what I would be most comfortable with. I have experience working with finances for clubs and managing money and thought that would be the best fit. But then I realized I was chasing after comfort rather than what I’m actually capable of. When I first considered it, I thought that I couldn’t possibly be President of SGA, I didn’t think I had the presence or language to run SGA. But then I realized I was falling victim to what those around me made me feel rather than what I was actually capable of. As current Speech and Debate Founder/President, Manager of the Quantitative Center, and Education Talk Facilitator, I’ve become more comfortable working with the student body, staff, and professors. It is very important to me that people feel that they are able to do whatever they set their minds to and not be brainwashed by those who try to make us feel less than. Being president would mean that my voice will exist in conversations that I am usually excluded from or even unaware of. My goal is to hopefully encourage other groups of people in our community to contribute to this dialogue and thankfully, Bryn Mawr has a student government that can make that possible. Please vote for me for SGA President 2020-2021!

 

Vice President

Junie Sok ’21

Hello! My name is Junie Sok, and I am running for SGA Vice President. As a member of the Class of 2021, I have enjoyed being involved and learning about the community through the Appointments Committee. This committee has taught me the importance of collaborative work when it came time to interview potential applicants. In which, I was able to solidify those skills and ideally use them as SGA Vice President. This school year I have worked as Vice President and it has been a rewarding experience. I was able to work with the Appointments Committee and find ways to make the application process clearer. I have also worked alongside the other executive board members to plan large scale events like Plenary, but also to continue ongoing conversations on issues we wanted to change. Through the support of my peers, I hope to continue to make SGA more accessible and even more transparent. Knowing what I know now, I would like to continue certain projects and implement even more changes that need to be made on this campus. For instance, accountability for all individuals and reevaluating this idea throughout the community. If I am elected, I look forward to using my position to work with not only the E-Board, but other students to demand and work towards building a better institute that feels both safe and comfortable. Despite how tiresome and emotionally draining the role can be, I am more than ready to jump straight into it all once again. Thank you for your time and consideration.

 

Social Justice and Equity Chair

Higinia Flores Rosas ’22

Hello everyone, my name is Higinia Flores Rosas, class of 2022. I am running for Social Justice and Equity Chair. I am running because I know there are numerous ways in which BMC could better support unrepresented groups on campus. I am currently a Customs Person in Denbigh 2nd, work at the Thorne School and have built a community among the undocumented students at BMC. I hope to reintegrate the club established in 2011 as Mawrters for Immigrant Justice this spring at BMC. I have been passionate about transforming the ways in which BMC thinks about diversity and inclusivity by meeting with several admin such as Kim Cassidy, Dean Walters, the Pensby Center and the Civic Engagement Office.

As elected Social Chair I hope to:

· Maintain open communication between AMO groups to ensure that their interests are well represented when meeting with Admin

· Advocate better ways to recognize and showcase the POC history of BMC through creative and artistic ways to highlight the importance of these experiences by working with the Archivist

· Collaborate with the Head of Honor Board to establish a process of holding Professors accountable and not just students when failing to follow the honor code

· Foster a positive environment where everyone feels welcomed and comfortable to voice their concerns

Thank you! If you have any questions, feel free to email me at hfloresros@brynmawr.edu

 

Co-Treasurers

Ellen Lu ‘22 and Gabriela Capone ‘22

Hello everyone! My name is Ellen, and I am a sophomore majoring in math. I am running for SGA Co-Treasurer with Gabriela. I have been a member of the Student Finance Committee (SFC) since my freshman year. I have been enjoying working on SFC and getting to contribute to the SGA. I love seeing how students are thriving through these various clubs outside of classrooms, and being a SFC member gives me the opportunity to work with these clubs, in terms of budgets and reimbursements. However, I always wanted to contribute more and get more involved in the Bryn Mawr community, and being a treasurer would allow me to achieve these goals. I will be honored to have the opportunity to serve as a co-treasurer with Gabriela next year.

My name is Gabriela and I am running alongside Ellen to be your SGA Co-Treasurer! I am studying political science and economics and have been a member of Student Finance Committee since my second semester last year. I have enjoyed working with students, clubs, and club leadership to manage budgets and help SGA work its best. The many wonderful clubs at Bryn Mawr have made many great contributions to our community, and I want to be able to help them all continue to do that. Reimbursing receipts quickly became one of my favorite things after joining SFC last year and I know that the budgeting and reimbursement process is complicated. As a treasurer, I would help it run smoothly for all Bryn Mawr students participating in clubs. I am excited for the opportunity to be one of your treasurers and continue contributing to SGA and would be honored to manage our treasury and serve my peers as your Co-Treasurer.

The two of us would love to be your SGA Co-Treasurers and know that we can have a positive impact on SGA and our Bryn Mawr community. Vote Ellen and Gabriela for SGA Co-Treasurers!

Head of Honor Board

Mayisha Rahman ’21

I am Mayisha Rahman, class of 2021, she/her and I’m running to be head of honor board next year. The honor code is the backbone of BMC’s SGA and for a lot of us, it was also our first introduction to this very special community. I’m running because while I do want to uphold the values that make the honor code so special, I want to help foster a restorative environment in the event that an honor code violation does  occur. I would also like to hold both faculty and students accountable to the code and want to develop ways in which both parties will respect each other and we as students of Bryn Mawr can thrive in an environment of trust and healthy competition owing to the spirit of our academic and social honor code. I have been heavily involved with our campus community for the past 2.5 years and am hopeful that the student body will trust me enough to handle being a part of the SGA e-board for the upcoming academic year.

Co-Heads of Elections 

Yael Day ‘22 and Zoe Gold ‘22

Greetings members of the Bryn Mawr community, our names are Yael Day and Zoe Gold, and we are running for Co-Heads of Elections!

My name is Yael Day and I am an intended Biochemistry major and Neuroscience minor. I am really excited to be more involved in SGA in the elections process! My freshman year, I was not very involved in SGA, so this year I decided to get more involved. In the fall semester, I joined the Traditions Committee and the Plenary Committee. Being an Elections Co-Head would allow me to further my involvement in the school community. The SGA was one of the aspects of Bryn Mawr that made me want to apply so I am excited to be playing a larger part in that. On the traditions committee and plenary committee I have worked with larger groups of people in organizing events for the whole school, and I think that SGA election heads will be an extension of that. This experience has given me a lot of practice in organizing and responsponsibility for large scale events and taking on leadership roles. I am also really excited to be working with Zoe as an Elections Co-Head!

Hi everyone! My name is Zoe and I am an intended English and Psychology double major. I am excited to get more involved in SGA, as I have not been before. I believe that there is an inaccessibility and distance between SGA and the student body, which is part of why I was not as involved as I wanted to be, and I am excited to work on bridging the gap between the students and SGA. SGA is an integral aspect of the Bryn Mawr community, and as co-election head I will work on informing students of the various SGA positions and their roles in the community, as well as how they can get involved. I am in the unique position of having served as head of the Nominating Committee my senior year of high school, which is essentially the same role as election head, just designed for the Quaker process. I had experience with the objectivity, reliability, and communication necessary for a position as head of an election process. I am excited to work with Yael in getting the student body engaged with SGA and elections!

We are really excited to be your SGA Co-Heads and have big plans for next year! We are planning on initiating in-person election incentives to get students more aware of and involved with SGA. This will include meeting students where they are, for example canvassing in the campus center and having cookies or other snacks as an incentive. This is important for increasing voter turnout, which needs a large boost. This will also involve more social media outreach, for example starting an elections instagram account and regularly updating students about SGA meetings and actions, as well as any elections related information. We will work on ensuring that students know about SGA elections further in advance, and want to vote and participate! We will conduct information sessions with students so that they can learn about the roles of all of the SGA positions and so that they can understand the power and importance of SGA in the community. It is important to us that the election heads communicate more regularly with the members of the SGA E Board and also have a better understanding of those positions so we can explain them more clearly to people. This will involve us meeting with the other members of SGA positions and learning more about what they do and want they want and need from us. It is important to us that the election heads are not just heard from in emails! We think that part of the responsibility of the election heads is to work on bonding with the SGA members, and this will be accomplished with our little cheese idea. Little Cheese Night will be set up similar to Big Cheese Night, but using members of the SGA E Board as our panel. Having a Little Cheese Night will allow students to meet with and talk with members of the E Board. Not only will this improve relations between the student community and SGA, but it will also get people more excited about running for SGA positions. Our last initiation is to update the elections blog and by-laws. This blog needs to be updated and should be updated more regularly so it can be used as a resource for students interested in getting more involved in the SGA.

We are so excited to be running for Co-Heads of Elections!
If you have any questions, please email us at yday@brynmawr.edu and zgold@brynmawr.edu

Bharati Ganesh ’22 & Shreya Bhutani ’22

Hi Bryn Mawr Community! Our names are Bharati Ganesh (she/her) ‘22 and Shreya Bhutani (she/her) ‘22 and we are running for co-Heads of Elections. 

Since arriving at Bryn Mawr, we have worked together as Treasurer and Diversity Equity Chair on the BMC Mock Trial team’s Executive Board, and as Event Coordinator and Publicist on the Dharmic Students Association Executive Board. If elected as co-Heads of Elections, we would continue a long tradition of successful, efficient and innovative collaboration. Our vision for Elections involves greater accessibility: from before nominations start throughout the voting period. Bryn Mawr has a unique history of activism and participation in student government and we want to promote that by bringing more people into the elections process.

As a Political Science major, Bharati has been interested in elections since high school, having volunteered on political campaigns at the local, state and federal level. She is very excited to run for co-Head of Elections and be part of the elections process at Bryn Mawr. The experience of working on campaigns has provided her with a great understanding of how they work and what rules candidates need to follow. Bharati has also interned with Planned Parenthood, which strengthened her research, issue advocacy, and communications skills— which are essential to good collaboration and effective dissemination of information. She currently works in the Bryn Mawr Writing Center, where she has developed a passion for working with both students and her fellow tutors.

Shreya is a Growth and Structure of Cities major and is incredibly excited to run for co-Head of Elections! She has been fortunate to have served in multiple leadership positions at Bryn Mawr and plans to apply the skills that she has learned to this role. She currently serves as President and Founder of the Bi-Co Train Club where she has had the experiences of running an election, working with multiple perspectives, and delegating work responsibility. She is also working as a Customs Person, and she has collaborated with other members of her Dorm Leadership Team in order to create a welcoming environment. In addition, she has practiced communication, teamwork, and compromise as a Supervisor at Uncommon Grounds.

These experiences have made us capable of managing elections at Bryn Mawr and working closely with candidates and SGA. As you next co-Heads of Elections, we plan to:

  • Advertise upcoming elections on various social media platforms— this can widen the pool of candidates and foster greater accessibility and transparency between Elections and BMC students

  • Do a Q&A session on available positions before nominations start so that students have a better understanding of what they are running for

  • Post candidate statements for each election on social media so that more student body members can see them

  • Livestream the Candidate’s Forum— this would ensure that students who cannot attend the forum can still participate and learn more about the candidates

  • Hold office hours before and during election periods

We hope that we have earned your vote as co-Heads of Elections. Please do not hesitate to reach out to us about anything: bganesh@brynmawr.edu and sbhutani@brynmawr.edu
 

SGA Archivist

Katie Davenport ’21

Hello Bryn Mawr Community! My name is Katie Davenport and I am running for SGA Archivist. I am a junior history major with a concentration in contemporary american history and english minor. I am interested in being the SGA Archivist because I think this work is important. I want to make a contribution in preserving the archives and finding the voices of those who have come before us. I am one of the Junior History Representatives and was a Community Diversity Assistant and on the E-Board for Sisterhood*. With my experience, I have gained skills such as organization, communication, flexibility, and dedication in everything I do. I want to make the archive more present in our community and go beyond traditional practices to raise awareness of Bryn Mawr’s history. With this archival work, I want to bring more diversity to Bryn Mawr’s perception of the past.

Thank you for taking the time to vote in this election! If you have any other questions please feel free to email me at kdavenport@brynmawr.edu