There were new faces at the Student Federation meeting last week.
Because freshman Representative Jacob Weaver and junior Representative Dominic Restuccia recently pledged Delta Tau Delta, the Student Fed bylaws prohibit them from serving on Student Federation. Freshman Rachael Behr and junior Jonathan Calcaterra replaced them since they received the second greatest number of votes in last semester’s election.
“It comes down to ‘I only have so much time and energy and I have to pick my places to spend it,’” Weaver said. “As much as I love Student Federation, this is the direction I wanted to go, and I’m really excited about it.”
Both were disappointed to be leaving, but understood the rule and knew that it was time to leave.
“I think I served my time admirably; I’m proud of what I did with Student Federation, glad to have done it,” Restuccia said. “I think it was the right time for me to transition out. There has been a lot of heated stuff, a lot of strong words, and good debate. I think it was a good time to transition away and let someone else take my spot. I think that I did what I intended to do, which was make my point to be there and stand for the things I want to stand for. And I can still help the campus from a better position now.”
In addition to being on Student Federation now, Behr is also involved in the Debate Club, Young Americans for Freedom, and Praxis. She also works as a student worker in the library.
“I wanted to be in Student Federation because I wanted to feel the pulse of what happens at this school,” Behr said. “It’s really good to be in touch with what’s going on and I love participation in student government. I really like to be able to know that I’m making a difference in what happens at this school.”
Calcaterra is also involved in Young Americans for Freedom. Additionally, he is working on starting a Young Americans for Liberty chapter at Hillsdale, and he volunteers with A Few Good Men.
“I wanted to be on Student Federation because I felt that I could help with the management of student affairs, and I enjoy helping people out to the greatest of my ability,” he said. “So I felt that in such a position I would further be able to help the student body as a whole.”
The two new members were sworn in this past week and immediately assumed full voting privileges.
