(Left to right) Secretary Dante Diggs, Vice President Brian Goldstein, President Natasha Menon, Speaker Jude Dartey, and Treasurer Kevin Zhou. (Photo from Kevin Zhou)
The Undergraduate Assembly elected the three remaining positions on its executive board for the next academic year, including a new speaker, treasurer, and secretary.
The body internally elected College sophomore Jude Dartey as speaker, College sophomore Kevin Zhou as treasurer, and Wharton freshman Dante Diggs as secretary. They were elected at the UA’s April 14 transition meeting, where College juniors Natasha Menon and Brian Goldstein were sworn in as president and vice president, respectively. The entire UA body was eligible to declare their candidacy for the positions and to vote in the elections.
As speaker, Dartey will maintain the internal efficiency of the UA by running the body's weekly meetings, coordinating the UA committees, and appointing associate members. Dartey cited his prior experience as director of the UA Equity and Inclusion Committee as an important qualification, since both roles entail the responsibility of facilitating the projects of other UA members.
Dartey said he hopes to increase the number of meetings he has with the directors of the assembly’s committees to help keep projects on track. Dartey also said he wants to find new ways to advertise the UA's transparency initiatives to the student body, such as promoting the meeting minutes and attendance records that are publicly available on the UA's website.
"The issue isn’t that the UA isn’t transparent," Dartey said. "It’s just, how are we marketing that transparency?"
The UA’s budget will be managed by Zhou, who previously served on the UA’s budget committee. As treasurer, Zhou said he will strive to make budget information more easily accessible and comprehensible for students.
Diggs will serve as the UA’s secretary — a role which focuses on writing the body’s meeting minutes, ensuring that both the UA and student body are aware of the UA's ongoing projects and initiatives, and facilitating the airport shuttle fundraiser that the UA hosts to transport students for Thanksgiving, winter, and spring breaks.
Diggs said he will also create more time for non-UA members to speak at the UA's general board meetings, including allowing leaders of student groups to present to the UA. He also hopes to continue making the airport shuttle fundraiser more transparent, citing the new amendment in the most recent budget that requires that the UA to report all revenue in its annual budget as a good first step to improve transparency.
The airport shuttle fundraiser came under increased scrutiny during the UA election earlier this month, when presidential candidate Maria Curry alleged that the UA executive board was using the shuttle funds for inappropriate services, such as alcohol and food at a social event.
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