(Left to right) Annabelle Hopkins ’19, Robin Emmons ’19, Myra Praml ’19, Stachal Harris ’21 and Halen Gifford ’21 spoke about their plans for Campus Council (Photo by C.J. Mandell).
Laura Haley
Chief Copy Editor
Campus Council has announced the results of elections for nine positions next year. Four of these elected students will hold At-Large seats, including Robert Dinkins, Jr. ’19, Annabelle Hopkins ’19, Nick Shiach ’20 and returning representative Matthew Hartzell ’19. Stachal Harris ’21 will be the racial and ethnic diversity representative, Myra Praml ’19 will be the gender and sexual diversity representative, Halen Gifford ’21 will be the service and civic engagement representative, Robin Emmons ’19 will be the selective organizations representative and Christian Betre ’19 will be the international diversity representative.
The newly elected representatives expressed their goals for their terms. Praml said that she would advocate for women and LBGTQ+ students.
“Much of my efforts will go toward addressing the safety and needs of those who are at a greater risk of sexual or relationship violence and harassment,” Praml said. “I plan … to serve as a bridge between the students and [the Center for Diversity and Inclusion] to create concrete plans for a safe space.”
Harris said that she wanted more resources for minority groups.
“[I want to] create support groups in majors with underrepresented minorities,” Harris said. “[The idea of] permanent lounges for other minority groups similar to the [Black Student Association] lounge will validate smaller racial and ethnic groups.”
As service and civic engagement representative, Gifford said that she would focus on the relationship the Council has with the student body and campus groups.
“As a new member, a major goal of mine is to better facilitate conversation and transparency with Campus Council and students of the College,” Gifford said. “While council meetings are open, it is currently very difficult for students to find out the information they seek. I would love to work on creating new outreach programs and even a new and improved Campus Council website.”
Betre said that she wanted to identify and confront issues that international students constantly face.
“As the newly elected international diversity chair, my major goal is to assist international students with any problems that they face on campus with adjusting to the community,” Betre said. “Following up to that, I plan on bridging the gap between international students and domestic students.”
At-large representative Shiach is looking forward to assisting in future elections and plans on revising the Scot’s Key, specifically the policies regarding student privacy.
“I believe choosing to attend Wooster should not require a sacrifice of privacy rights,” Shiach said. “I’m hoping to focus on a small set of important issues this year to increase the chances that substantive policy change in the upcoming term is achieved.”
Meanwhile, Dinkins said that he wanted to meet with students to discuss their concerns directly.
“I am most interested to work with all students. I’m planning on having some time set aside for students to meet with me during the week if they have any concerns. My main priority is helping the students and I am looking forward to that,” Dinkins said.
Hartzell, newly elected as an at-large representative and an Election Committee Chair, said he was excited for what the Council would accomplish in the future.
“I am most looking forward to working with all of the new Councilor-elects and am very interested, and excited, to hear their great ideas and am ready to get to work on the various issues at hand,” Hartzell said.
Praml also discussed her anticipation of the new year.
“I can’t think of much of anything that is more powerful than getting a passionate group of students together in a space where they can channel the desires and concerns of the student body,” Praml said.