CCSC Elections, 2015
The CCSC elections of 2015 were held on March 30th through April 1st. Columbia College students were allowed to vote for one CCSC executive board party and two University Senator candidates, as well as one or more candidates for several other positions.
Continuing the election reform policy implemented in 2014, the CCSC Elections Board allowed executive board candidates to run separately, with the exception of President and VP Policy. For the first time, election results also included the number of students who voted for none of the candidates, leading to some embarrassment as "None" took up to 30% of the vote in certain elections. In the ESC elections, "None" won two positions. Voter turnout was not released.
Contents
Candidates
CCSC President and VP Policy
2015 was a squaring-off between three exec parties: Ben Makansi and Viv Ramakrishnan's Freedom, Liberty, and Freedom party, incumbent President Peter Bailinson and VP Communications Abby Porter's It Takes Two party, and Daniel Stone and Daniel Garisto's Community Party for a Better Tomorrow (TCPFABT). Notably, Ben and Viv ran on a two-person ticket, and Daniel and Daniel ran on a ticket where all candidates were named Daniel or Danielle.
During the debates, Abby was questioned repeatedly by audience members as to why meeting minutes--one of the VP Comms's responsibilities--hadn't been uploaded to the website. Peter was also questioned as to why he was taking credit for financial aid improvements, as alumni donations facilitated many of them.[1] Finally, the issue of Bacchanal board's insularity came up, with Peter and Dan both pledging to dissolve the board at F@CU. Ben was critical of the board, but ultimately said that more facts needed to emerge before making a decision.[2] Throughout the debate, Dan and Dan were mostly nonchalant, with Garisto lying down during his opening remarks. Meanwhile, Ben and Viv often deflected questions back at Peter and Abby. This debate, as well as Spec's subsequent non-endorsement of any party, marked a turning point in the election.
In the end, FLF won with 839 votes (43.35%), defeating ITT (808 votes, 41.75%), TCPFABT (106 votes, 5.47%), and "None" (182 votes, 9.4%) for an upset victory.
VP Finance
Class of 2016 rep Sameer Mishra of ITT defeated
VP Campus Life
CCSC newcomer Kelly Echevarria of ITT defeated
VP Communications
Academic Affairs rep Grayson Warrick of ITT defeated
Other observations
Ben, Viv, and Sameer are all in Beta, and every executive board member will be a senior, meaning the 2016 elections will be wide-open.
University Senate
Five candidates ran for the University Senate: Matthew Chou, Richard Sun, Ryan Cho, Chris Canales, and Derrick Fu. Chou and Sun were victorious.
At-Large Positions
Two candidates ran for Academic Affairs Representative: Steven Castellano and Grace McCarthy. Castellano won with 54% of the vote. The Student Services Representative positions were (again) both unchallenged, leading sole candidates Christina Fan and Blaine Harper to victory. Likewise, the Pre-professional Representative position was uncontested, with Caroline Lisankie ultimately elected.
