MARSHA COHEN
Staff Writer
It’s back! This past week, the Student Association held its yearly class and delegate elections. We saw some familiar faces on this year’s ballot such as Jefferson Dedrick, Jason Burgos and Anthony Mercedes, but even though some new faces popped onto the scene with names like Jacob Foley, Abigail Krzyzanowicz and Mia Henderson, the possibility of having fresh faces as representatives didn’t have students rushing to the polls.
Only a total of 246 students showed up to the polls, consisting of 75 seniors, 64 juniors, 47 sophomores, 35 freshman and 5 graduate students. This year’s class presidents are Nathaniel Clarke (freshman), Meghan Bartok (sophomore), Stephanie Willis (junior) and Anthony Mercedes (senior).
The title of senior class president is something that Mercedes takes on with honor and pride. Since his start in SA as sophomore class president, he’s been open about his goal to become senior class president.
This dream became a reality during Thursday nights General Assembly meeting, when Mercedes was sworn in as senior class president.
“Ever since I joined the Student Association I told myself ‘I want to be the senior class president, that takes the class to the highest potential that it can reach.’ It seemed like such a big dream with a such long reach. Being sworn in tonight was nothing less than a dream come true,” said Mercedes.
Every year, the graduating senior class leaves their mark on Fredonia by giving the school a gift. While Mercedes and his committee aren’t set on a specific idea, they know the impact they want to make with the gift.
“One thing I am going to make sure, is that this gift not only brings beauty to Fredonia but also has a significant meaning behind it,” said Mercedes.
Mercedes won’t be the only voice representing the class of 2015. A new statue in SA’s constitution permits the following: “The Vice President shall be appointed by the Class President from the Class Representatives that are elected to their respective delegation.”
“The idea for the amendment for Statute L-13 came from last year’s Senior Class President Patrick Kennedy, and was passed last semester. This was the first election it was functional for.
“Previously, the candidate for class presidency who received the second highest amount of votes was elected Vice President. President Kennedy felt that this may cause some contention between the winner and runner-up, and thought the best option was for the President to appoint the person she/he felt would work with them most effectively,” said Jefferson Dedrick, Speaker of the Assembly.
The senior class representatives for this year are: Shannon Mchugh, Anthony Mercedes, Alexis Phillips, Chris Sanchez, Will Webber and Elizabeth Brion. Out of the five contenders, Chris Sanchez had the second highest votes garnering a total of 35.
“Since sophomore year when we decided to start this journey together, he has been my backbone. He is the person that adds the strength to my ideas and truly has the best interest for the senior class. Together, I feel as though we can take this class to new heights and truly leave a mark on this campus. There is no one else I would rather work with,” said Mercedes.
With new representatives on board for this year’s Student Association, current representatives look ahead towards the potential that lies within the new delegates.
“Overall I feel as though the relationship between the students and the association has grown stronger and the commitment to excellence has exceeded my expectations. The people sitting in the 5:30 meetings each Thursday or attending committee meetings throughout the week do so because we care about the past, present and future of the Fredonia student experience and we hope to leave that legacy as we move on into the next chapters of our lives,” said Sanchez.