Student Government Posts Elected & Appointed

The Associated Student Government (ASG) announced its appointment of the Executive Cabinet later this afternoon, at the official announcement where it also made the results of last week's Senate elections known. We are anticipating several UAYDs in this year's Senate, and there are certainly a few in the Cabinet as well.

This year's Cabinet is the largest in recent years, certainly in the past four this writer has been around, and introduces the creation of several positions, the division of at least one, and the reintroduction of a previously eliminated one.

The Cabinet list in its entirety is:
Assistant to the Vice President for Special Projects - Georgeanne Carpenter
Assistant to the Vice President: University Committee Liaison - Mac Mathis
Assistant to the Treasurer - Bobby Bruning
Director of RSO Relations - Dylan Jones
Press Secretary - Daniel Ford
Director of FYE - Whitney Branham
Director of External Relations - Cody Kees
Director of Sustainability - Billy Fleming
Director of Internal Relations - Jake Fair
Director of Constituent Relations - Shayne Henry
Director of Legislative Affairs - Afshar Sanati
Director of Academic Affairs - Suzanne Area
Director of Athletic Relations - Chris Arnold
Director of Campus Safety - Michael Smoll
Director of Campus Life - Cristen Handley
Director of Parking and Transit - Chase Phillips
Director of Service Outreach - Laura Neumann
Director of Philanthropic Outreach - Becca Carlson
Director of Information Technology - Tony Cosgrove
Chair of the Readership Committee - Katie McGehee
Co-Chair of the Safe Ride Committee - Omar Brown
Liaison to the Faculty and Staff Senates - Kalyn Williams
Liaison to Graduate Students - Caleb Rose
Liaison to Residents' Interhall Congress - Cameron Mussar
Liaison to Greek Life - Zane Muzaffar
Historian - Grant Hodges

I would urge everyone concerned with an issue on campus to contact the Cabinet member responsible for advocacy for that issue. They are the direct link to the President of the student body, Mattie Bookhout, and have the connections and power to be a voice for students to the administration and various university committees and departments.

I can guarantee you that the Young Democrats will be in contact with the ASG Director of Legislative Affairs this semester.

Although the exact demographics were not available at the time of this post, it is clear from the roster that the Cabinet is about 80% white, 66% male, and 56% Greek-affiliated, stressing the need for increased publicity and awareness of student government elections to increase diversity.

On the Senate side of student government, 394 students voted in the election (roughly 2% of the student population), again stressing the need to increase student government visibility and awareness. The posts for each seat were filled as follows:

Bumpers College:
Kelly L. Brophey
Rachel Golden

School of Architecture:
Emily LaRocca
Kyle Rookstool

Fulbright College:
Brittany E. Box
Divesh Brahmbhatt
Kelsey Castleberry
Logan Gilmore
Adam Glasier
Holly Hilburn
Veronica Johannesen
Rebecca Martin
Gavin McCollum
Megan McLoud
Alex Moffe
Carl Monson
Jennifer Moss
Jacara Robinson
Will Watson

College of Education and Health Professions:
Kori Beams
Jillian Knox

College of Engineering:
Whitney Perkins

Walton College:
Sean Clarkson
Michael Dodd
Carlo Dominguez
Daniel Kleine
Alex Lanis
Colin O'Donnell
Robert Sharp
J. Bryan White

Graduate/Law Schools:
Thang Ho
Ryan O. Miller
Elizabeth Pryor
Jack Buckley
Sam Hall
Jordan M. Voor

By my tabulations, and with incomplete data, the Senate this year is about 90% white, 56% male, and 47% Greek, indicating slightly more gender equity and less racial diversity, but unlike the Cabinet, has a non-Greek majority.

Note: There are 19,849 students enrolled at the University of Arkansas this Fall, with a minority enrollment rate of about 14%. According to the Office of Greek Life, approximately 20% of students "go Greek."