Associated Student Election Winners
April 17, 2020 - 04:51 PM
The Associated Students (A.S.) elections were held, for the first time ever, completely online and here are the winners:
Hugo Fulcheri & John Walling won the ticket of A.S. President and A.S. Vice President, respectively
Courtney Darcy & Erick Chavez won as ICC Co-Chairs ticket
Sophia Ruiz won Student Trustee, Mt. SAC
An Information Technology team that included Mt. SAC staff members Eric Turner, Kate Morales and Matt Bidart was able to create an online voting and elections webpage to make the 100% online voting system for this election.
Student Trustee-elect Sophia Ruiz described the challenges of campaigning in an exclusively online environment, “I held a large part of (my campaign) on Instagram and Facebook, using the handle @sruiz4trustee. I learned to quickly adjust and use this to the best of my ability, despite the technical difficulties. I soon realized this was much more than a campaign platform. The college has entered a new realm for student engagement and development in our distance learning environment.”
A.S. President-elect Fulcheri echoed the need to look at this as a new era. “When this pandemic ends, I expect a lot of changes in everyone's life. This will be immensely hard for some, to which I hope our school can aid students with as many resources as possible. This is one of the greatest challenges anyone has ever had to face, but I know Mt. San Antonio College will strive and bounce back with great strength.”
As the Student Trustee, Ruiz will represent the entire student body on the Board of Trustees, which meets monthly as the policy-making body of the college. The Board consists of seven publicly-elected representatives, plus the Student Trustee.
Ruiz will begin her term on June 1 and has plans to “connect more students with campus resources, expand student opportunities via internships and conferences, and advocate for a sustainable campus for all. As Student Trustee, I will ensure we fulfill the promises contained within the Mt. SAC Climate Action Plan. More than anything else, I want my candidacy to unify our campus community to renew institutional prosperity.”
As for Fulcheri, who will lead the Associated Students starting July 1, he said any previous goals he may have had are secondary to the current crisis. “My main goal is to make the school more equitable in these hard times. With the impact of COVID-19 on our school, I see this as the main problem and situation that must be taken care of before anything else. I would also like to solve problems that are being seen between students and professors during remote teaching.”
