By Laken Franchetti, News Editor
The Student Senate popular election for the 2023-2024 executive board concluded on Friday.
Drew Lemon ’24 won for Student Senate president with 55.68 percent of the vote. Evelyn Datte ’24 followed with 43.18 percent. The remaining 1.14 percent of voters did not vote in this category.
Current Senate President Miranda Zamora ’23 shared her thoughts on Lemon taking over next year.
“There is no doubt in my mind that Drew will do a fantastic job as President,” Zamora said. “I have also had a long working history with Drew. He was a member of CLAC during his first year when I was the CLAC chair, and he took on the chair position after my term. During his time in the senate, he has always been the type of guy who makes things happen, and I feel that he has the skills and administrative ties to best address the concerns of the students.”
Lemon expressed excitement at winning the position and is eager to get to work.
“This is a [position] I have dreamed of holding since I was a first year at the college,” Lemon said. “Winning this position means I can take the culmination of my previous senate experience as a senator, class officer and committee chair to broaden my leadership capabilities to work for more students. I am excited to be working with our next cohort of senators and the executive board, but most importantly our students.”
Lemon shared that he is hoping this position will allow him to form better relationships between the senate body and its affiliates.
“I plan on forging meaningful relationships between senate and the administration and board of trustees at the college, while also working to improve our internal relationships between senators and the students we represent,” Lemon said.
Geoffrey Meadville ’25 ran unopposed and won re-election for Student Senate Vice President.
“I’m happy to have been re-elected to second term despite my uncontested election,” Meadville said. “[It’s] a new redefined role and I look forward to shaping it to do the work of campus and the student body to the best of my ability… I’m most excited to have a role within daily workings of senate, and being able to take the burden of some of the work from the president. Idle hands are not useful and I’m glad to have something to use my skills for.”
Abby Ruggiero ’26 ran unopposed for Student Senate Inclusion Officer. Ruggiero currently serves as the Senate social affinity group leader and will follow Allie Acero ’23 in the role.
Ruggiero shared her excitement at joining the executive board.
“I really look forward to working with the students and the student senate of Gettysburg College! I really can’t wait to work with the new executive board and voting members next year,” Ruggiero said. “I am hoping to get more international and BIPOC students to join the student senate as voting members and I am hoping the inclusion committee can come up with more ideas to get these students to join the student senate and help diversify this organization.”
Zamora shared her thoughts on Meadville and Ruggiero winning these positions.
“I am excited to see the work that Abby does as [inclusion officer], especially since she is still relatively new to the Senate. I feel that she will provide a great perspective as someone who is still adjusting to Senate procedure,” Zamora said. “As for Geoffrey I am incredibly excited about his reelection. I had the chance to work with Geoffrey this past year on [the executive board] and already know that he is more than capable of continuing the role of Vice President.”
A total of 264 students voted in the Student Senate population election. While this is a higher number than the previous year, Zamora and Lemon see room for improvement.
“Voting was higher than it was last year, which I am excited about, as I think that signals a step in the right direction as far as the senate’s outreach to the campus community, but I still hoped for a larger voting turnout,” Zamora said.
“I think Gettysburg College can achieve greater voter turnout in student government elections,” Lemon said. “By raining the numbers to the quantity of students that vote, we can allow more voices to be included in the popular elections of our student leaders.”
This article was edited at 3:00 p.m. on April 10, 2023. An earlier version of this article included a typo that has been corrected. (- L. Franchetti)
