JAMES LILLIN
Staff Writer
For the first time on Nov. 8 and 9, elections for the Student Association moved from voting booths in the Williams Center to an online poll distributed by SurveyMonkey, with over 1000 students sending in their vote over the web. Running unopposed were sophomore political science and journalism major Joshua Ranney and junior early childhood education major Katherine Grabowski, who will be taking over the roles of Student Association president and vice president respectively next semester.
Ranney brings a wealth of past experience in SA to their new roles at the top, having been involved since last Fall as a class representative, class president and in the current position of chief of staff.
Grabowski has been involved with SA only since the beginning of this year, but quickly gained a deep respect for the group of student representatives.
“I started going to the General Assembly meetings when the semester started,” said Grabowski, “and I got a feel for how different positions work and the different types of committees we have. It really opened my eyes to how much SA contributes to student life.”
Ranney and Grabowski are taking over SA just as the recent vote on whether or not the Student Activity Fee should be made voluntary, which according to some could have devastated SA by leaving it without required funding, was settled in favor of the fee remaining mandatory.
“Katie and I are thrilled that the Activity Fee Referendum was voted mandatory,” said Ranney. “We were able to avoid the possibility of cutting some groups or other great things that the campus offers and that students depend on. I know everyone in the Student Association is proud of all the motivated and concerned student leaders who campaigned for the fee to continue as mandatory. It is because of them that Fredonia continues to be a place that thrives because of those who love it.”
Ranney and Grabowski both view SA as a vital part of the campus’ culture, with Ranney particularly proud of the recently passed Resolution R-38, which aimed to combat discrimination on campus.
“Recently SA has made achievements in approving Resolution R-38, making it mandatory that all SA members receive bias and sensitivity training,” said Ranney. “We hope that this enables people to be aware of biases or micro-aggressions when it comes to race.”
Both of them also agree that fostering communication between SA and the clubs that it supports will be a central focus of their upcoming term.
“I want to make SA as connected as humanly possible with each and every individual club on campus,” said Grabowski.
“Communication has been something that has been on a few of the past presidents’ ‘to do’ lists,” said Ranney, “but going around to groups and listening to what concerned students have to say, we have heard that this is still something we need to work on. So we can’t just say, ‘that’s enough’ or ‘it’s been addressed.’ We will continue to work to improve this until we know that we are serving those we represent the best way possible.”
Ranney and Grabowski hope to meet the challenges faces SA as a united team, fueled by their mutual admiration for Fredonia.
“I love the opportunities Fredonia has provided me,” said Grabowski, “from clubs, to work, to field experience, to classes. The longer I am here, the more and more I feel like I truly belong.”
“My favorite thing about Fredonia is the people,” said Ranney. “Everyone I have met at Fredonia has had a warm personality, and it’s hard to find anything but a friendly face. Whether it’s President Horvath, the FSA worker you see at Cranston or Tim Hortons every day, or the classmate in the library, you never seem to get anything less than a smile.”
Both see Fredonia as a campus filled with passionate teachers and a wealth of opportunities, but one which still needs SA to thrive.
“Without SA, I truly believe students would not receive the various opportunities they have here at Fredonia, because clubs would not receive the funding they do to put on such incredible events,” said Grabowski, “and the way in which clubs would run would not be as smooth and efficient as they run now, because they would not have the well-thought-out structure that SA has designed for them.“