This past Friday, Chris Mather and Zachary Ament were elected as the new Grand Marshal and President of the Union. The results were announced on Friday evening.
With anticipations and an air of tension, nearly a 100 students and candidates stood in the Union Rathskeller, waiting for the announcement of the results. “I am very excited, and a little nervous,” said Robert Tedesco, who ran for Class of 2005 president, a sentiment that was echoed by many of the candidates.
Members of the Rules and Elections Committee took turns declaring the results for the different positions. The GM and PU results were announced last.
After thanking the Apollo party members for their help, both Mather and Ament promised to do their best during their time in office. “I am excited and I look forward to a great year,” said Mather as he accepted the Top Hat from outgoing GM Gil Valadez. “He will do a good job and he will bring a lot of energy and experience,” said Valadez. Mather won with 1,600 votes from 1,712 cast for that position. 112 votes went to write-ins.
“I am excited to take the position and to continue the success that Ariana has laid this year,” said Ament. Departing PU Ariana Twitchell expressed her confidence that “Zach is competent and will do a great job.” He won with 1,143 votes, from a total of 1,981 votes cast for that position.
Runner up for the PU position Michael Borzumate said that he was disappointed but confident that “Zach will do the job.” He also pointed out that not many students came out to the debates, and that’s an issue that the PU has to work on. “I am looking forward for next year, we will give Apollo a run for their money,” he said.
As for the first thing on his agenda, Ament said that it would be “to appoint a very dedicated and competent board in order to get things going immediately.”
“This was a good race, especially the one for PU,” said Director of the Union Rick Hart. The RNE committee and the GM week committee members who were there were thanked by all sides for their involvement. “We should all thank RNE for their effort and hard work,” said Valadez.
On a related note, there was one tie in the class of 2003 senate race. Three candidates were on the ballot and the fourth seat was tied with three write-in candidates with three votes each. One of the write-ins, Matt Ronka, who had two votes, has demanded a recount on the grounds that he had three, not two votes. “For a valid write-in candidate to be counted, their first and last names have to be that of an eligible RPI student,” said RNE Chair Matt Rudary. The empty Senate seat will be filled by an appointment from 2003 Class Council.
