Executive Council of Student Government Voted In

By: Meghan Fitzpatrick

Posted: 5/2/07

As the academic year comes to a close Student Government is preparing for the next academic year with the announcement of the new Executive Council. The Executive Council for the 2007-2008 academic year includes: President Kathleen Nealon, Executive Vice President Kyria Rousseau, Administrative Vice President Mary Kate Walker, Secretary Amanda Dadiego, Treasurer Lydia Herron, Chief Justice Megan Fraino, and Director of the Board of Programmers Bridget Reilly.

Last week this group of women met for the first time to talk about their plans for the fall semester. These seven women are proud to have the opportunity to lead the College and make positive changes.

"Yes estrogen!" just might be their motto.

During this academic year the Executive Council has changed the structure and organization of the weekly Student Government meetings. The major change was the instatement of Robert's Rules which have eliminated the chaos that once kept meetings running for hours. All of the new members of the Executive Council agree that they would like to maintain the structure and organization of this past year's meetings by continuing to use Robert's Rules.

President Kathleen Nealon says her main goal is to, "Create more student involvement and see fresh faces at the meetings."

If anyone is cut out for the job of recruiting students it is Nealon, because she has such a strong presence of campus.

Like Nealon, Executive Vice President Kyria Rousseau is a face everyone is friendly with on campus. She also believes she can use her outgoing personality to bring more students to the weekly meetings. As EVP her position requires her to run the meetings and exercise Robert's Rules.

Rousseau says, "I know the importance of structure and organization and I'm going to learn more about Robert's Rules."

Mary Kate (MK) Walker is the one returning member to the Executive Council. The chief responsibilities of her position include overseeing clubs and committees and handling the club budgets. During the past few years there has been a lot of controversy surrounding how club budgets are being handled. To reduce these problems Walker is meeting with Angela Baumann and Ashley Friedman to revise the club handbook. She also wants to reinstitute the President's Council. In the past the President's Council was made up of club presidents and they met regularly with the AVP. An active President's Council may help improve club involvement on campus.

As the director of Board of Programmers, Bridget Reilly will be working on planning events on campus. If there is anyone cut out for this position it is, as she is a current member of the Board of Programmers and has worked hard to make this year's Spring Fest a success.

She says, "I want the Virgin Mega Tour Concert to lead up to an even bigger event next year."

Freshman Amanda Dadiego will be the youngest member of the Executive Council. She says, "I just want to keep what's going on."

Lydia Herron is ready for her role as treasurer as she has previous experience handling budgets. The sophomore is using her position next year as a stepping stone because she hopes to win the presidency for her senior year.

Megan Fraino will be a senior in the fall but this will be her first time getting involved with Student Government and is evidence that it is never too late to get involved.

As chief justice some of her responsibilities will include overseeing appeals made by students and impeachments of senators. Current Chief Justice Nina Gassoway has been working to revise this position so it can exercise more duties.

Fraino believes she can contribute a fresh outlook for the campus because she knows what students are thinking. She says she wants to use her position to help students to "know their rights on campus."

The new Executive Council plans on meeting during the summer and getting together with Dean of Students Adele Gatens before the end of the semester. The first endeavor will be planning the annual Leadership Weekend.

The seven women have a lot of work ahead of them and have a great deal to live up to as the 2006-2007 Executive Council has accomplished a great deal. Their optimism is reflected in the words of Walker when she simply says, "Next year will be better than this year."