New freshmen and transfer students elected to student senate

Last week, the student body voted to fill ten seats in the George Mason student senate.

“I am very pleased to learn that I arrived in second place when so many great candidates were in the running,” Aaron Yohai, a freshman, said in an email.

The fall elections are held specifically to fill 10 out of 40 seats, for freshman and first semester transfer students. All students could have voted in the election, however, only freshman and transfer students were eligible to run.

Students were allowed to vote between Oct. 9 and Oct. 11.

Yohai came in second place in the election with 172 votes. Stacy Fleming received the most votes at 184. Eight other students were voted into the student senate. Overall, 498 people voted in this fall’s election. Last spring, 1,896 people voted to fill 30 seats in the student senate.“I'm honored that 172 students believed that my ideas for how to improve campus were in line with their own feelings,” said Yohai.

“As a candidate, I promised to increase the number of bike racks on campus, expand on-campus dining options, and thaw-out the sometimes icy relations between the administration and Greek Life,” said Yohai.  

Students also voted on a number of changes to the Student Body Constitution.

Two of the referendums focused on eligibility to run for student office.

The first, raised the minimum cumulative GPA to run for student government from 2.0, as required to be involved in Student Activities, to 2.5. 389 students voted to approve the referendum, 41 disagreeing, and 68 abstaining.

The second read, “No candidate for elected office may run for more than one position in Student Government.” 363 students approved this referendum, with 83 abstaining, and 52 disagreeing.

In total, 13 referendums were voted on, all of which were passed.

The new student senators began their term on Oct. 11.

(Photo Courtesy of George Mason Student Government)