Joon Nam ’23 and Zane Ruzicka ’23 were elected to serve on the Undergraduate Council of Students as its inaugural first-year representatives, UCS Elections Board Member Jackson Kealey ’21 announced on the steps of the Stephen Robert ’62 Campus Center last night.
About 65 percent of the class of 2023 — 1,074 of 1,662 students — voted in the election, a higher turnout than the 44 percent of the student body that voted in the Council’s spring executive board elections. Voting this fall was open only to first-years.
Nam earned 274 votes while Ruzicka received 246, according to UCS Chief of Staff and Elections Board Chair Melissa Lee ’20.
“I’m just really excited to get involved and work with a lot of the seniors, a lot of the upperclassmen here,” Nam said. “I think there’s going to be a lot of really good things going on and I’m excited to learn the ropes and see how I could contribute.”
Nam hopes to work on making water more accessible in Keeney dorms.
“I’m super excited to voice the opinions of all the first-year people who are part of my class,” Ruzicka said. “I’m very grateful to all of them for voting for me.”
Ruzicka is “really excited to look into things relating to sustainability and dining experience” as a first-year representative.
UCS created the two first-year representative positions on its Management Board this year to “incorporate first-year feedback in every UCS initiative,” Lee said at the Council’s Sept. 11 general body meeting.
The nine-person Management Board, which Lee chairs, handles the Council’s internal operations. The first-year representatives will lead “community events and projects for first-years” and “serve as a liaison” between the class of 2023 and UCS, The Herald previously reported.
Nam and Ruzicka were elected over three other candidates: Isaiah Dawkins ’23 received around 20 percent of the vote, Leona Hariharan ’23 received around 17 percent and Suyash Kothari ’23 received around 15 percent.
“I know (Nam and Ruzicka will) really kill it in the positions,” Dawkins said, adding that he plans to “get involved in some of the committees with UCS.”
Members of the Elections Board were excited by the high voter turnout.
“I think Melissa, along with (UCS President William Zhou ’20) and (UCS Vice President Jason Carroll ’21) did a really good job of marketing the fact that we are having these representatives to make sure that their voices (are) heard,” said Chair of the Student Wellness Committee and Elections Board Member Shivani Nishar ’20. “So I think it was just that marketing push” that prompted higher turnout.
“I think when first-years see all of the past impact we’ve made at Brown, … they’re really excited about the prospect of that,” Lee said.
