This past week, Student Federation held elections for next year’s members of Student Federation.
The positions of vice president, secretary, and treasurer were unopposed. In this most recent election, the number of freshmen running for office was surprising. There were five freshmen running for two spots. This was unusual, especially since the other classes and positions did not have much competition.
Junior Marie Wathen won president against junior Albert (Os) Nakayama. Wathen is a history major and a member of the Hillsdale College Honors Program.
“I was thrilled when I found out I would be president,” Wathen said. “It’s a privilege to be in this position, and I’m excited to see what the year will hold.”
The vice president will be junior Lucy Rothhaas. She is a WyldLife leader for Young Life and a member of the American Chemical Society. She is a student athletic trainer and a residence assistant in Benzing Residence.
“I am looking forward to being more involved in the leadership aspect of Student Federation, as well as seeing how all aspects of Student Federation work, instead of just certain committees,” Rothhaas said.
The secretary will be junior Lydia Ivkovich. Lydia is a member of Pi Beta Phi and is their external affairs representative. In addition to that, she is involved with Greek InterVarsity, and she works at the Mossey Library and the alumni office. She is a marketing/management major and is currently the representative for Pi Beta Phi.
“This year, I’m most looking forward to making Student Federation more accessible and inviting to different groups and students across campus,” Ivkovich said. “I’m excited for the chance to meet new people and serve the student body through all of the different activities that Student Federation coordinates.”
The treasurer will be sophomore Jacob Thackston. His past experience on Student Fed has included being an independent representative this year. He is a philosophy major, a part of the George Washington Fellowship Program, and a member of the Hillsdale College Honors Program. He also is the executive director of A Few Good Men, a founding member of the Apologia club, and a volunteer at Crossroads Farm with rural youth.
“As treasurer, I’m looking forward to working alongside wonderful people in the student body, Student Federation, and the administration,” Thackston said. “I hope to continue to find ways in which we can contribute long-term investments into the student body and our campus. I ran in order to serve our student body as a disperser of money to the students. This is a wonderful opportunity to serve, and I’m excited to do so in this capacity.”
The freshmen representatives will be Joey Ruse and Jacob Weaver. The sophomore representatives will be Christian Wiese and Christopher Pudenz. The junior representatives will be Ryan Jelalian and Dominic Restuccia. Finally, the at-large representatives (those who got the next most votes) will be freshman Christie Mittlestaedt, freshman Jonathan Moy, and junior Sam Holdeman. The representatives from each Greek house will be decided by the individual houses.
The new federation will be sworn in at their next meeting, and the previous officers will step down.
“I would just like to add my sincere gratitude to last year’s Student Fed President Arielle Mueller for her leadership,” Restuccia said. “I know that she has worked hard and come a long way. She guided the ship with a steady hand and we should all be grateful to her.”
Some of the new Student Fed members ran with a platform of reform.
“I feel that there a lot of things we can do to fix up the current Student Federation,” Moy said. “I know that right now it’s going a good direction. We’re doing a lot in student life, but I feel that there could be more to improve our Student Federation. For example, with finances, we should probably go through and make sure that all the clubs that benefit the student body as a whole, that follow the college mission and the bylaws of the federation gets the money that our student federation gives out.”
One interesting approach to the freshmen campaigns was the coalition of Ruse and Weaver, who combined their campaign efforts to run as a pair.
“The strategy behind running as a team was that Joey and I both draw from different sectors of Hillsdale and also the same sector,” Weaver said. “We’re very much alike in a lot of ways, and at the same time, we’re very much different. And so, the real strategy was to pick up all sides of the spectrum from Hillsdale and as a team, we could combine the people who voted for us.”
Their teamwork stemmed from being roommates.
“We both had campaign experience, and between the two of us and our different interests, we felt we could better represent the entirety of the freshman class together,” Ruse said. “Having already formed a friendship due to being roommates, we felt that we would have a better line of communication and understanding between one another to analyze, discuss, and formulate solutions to ideas that the freshman class comes up with or brings to us.”
Whether or not they make changes, the new freshman representatives are looking forward to taking their place on Student Fed.
“I want to work with people and figure out the best ways to allocate the funds so that it benefits the students of Hillsdale College and sets them up to succeed,” Mittlestaedt said. “I want to have a positive effect: take the funds we have seriously, and make sure that we use the funds well for stuff that it should be used for. I also look forward to hearing from people about what they want from Student Federation.”
