On Tuesday Apr. 9, results of the election for 2013-2014 Executive Board of Fordham College at Lincoln Center’s (FCLC) United Student Government (USG) were announced.

The results are as follows: Louise Lingat, Fordham College at Lincoln Center (FCLC) ’15, won as President; Melissa Gazal, FCLC ’14, won as Vice President of Student Affairs; Shery Arce, FCLC ’16, won as Secretary and Zihui Ye, FCLC ’15, won as Treasurer. In addition, the new Junior Senators are Joe Lagville, FCLC ’15, and Deborah Adewale, FCLC ’15, and the Senior Senators will be Jessica Polins FCLC ’14, and John Kim, FCLC ’14.

According to the current president of USG, Alexa Rodriguez, FCLC ’13, the number of votes is similar to that of past years. “We like getting the students’ vote on who should make up the new editorial board; I would have liked more people to participate on OrgSync and the voting process,” she said.

Students voted for currently active members on USG, and the new executive board members said they are enthusiastic about furthering their involvement. Polins, an upcoming Senior Senator, looks to continue USG’s presence as an organization that fosters school spirit. “I wanted to extend my role as a senior senator, and continue being involved in the Students Activities Committee, where I helped plan the Winter Ball and the student appreciation awards. I also came up with the Ram pictures posted around the school,” she said. “I look forward to planning more events and activities; it’s a great way to increase student involvement and school spirit at Fordham.”

Arce, who will take the position of Secretary during the 2013-2014 year, said she wants to initiate more ideas in hopes of fostering more community at Fordham. “One of my goals includes making Winter Ball more affordable. If it were at a cheaper price, more students would attend, thus creating a greater sense of community at Fordham,” she said. “Also, I want to work with keeping Fordham Thursdays; it is uplifting when students gather together during that block.”

Like Arce, Gazal, the newly elected vice president of student affairs, also wishes to bring about more initiatives next year. “Even after my involvement in the Commuter Students Association (CSA), I want to continue an initiative I have been advocating for a while: the bridging of the commuter and resident gap at Fordham,” she said. “Through planning events and coming up with more initiatives, I want to really foster the FCLC community.”

The future treasurer of USG, Ye, is also interested in contributing to the growth of USG. “As a future treasurer, I will be doing two roles: an accountant and a money dealer. I need to do budgeting and plan events appropriately,” she said. “The role of treasurer is beyond numbers; it is more like planning events through the money at hand. The money we spend will really affect how the event will go, and shape the community.”

Lingat, the future president of USG, hopes to bring the organization closer with other clubs on campus. “I want to take advantage of all the clubs at FCLC, so I am definitely wanting USG to network and merge with other students in the Residence Hall Association (RHA) and CSA – our clubs can work on a lot more initiatives together,” she said. “As president, I want us to grow into a more unified club; I do want all the students to know each other in our Fordham community.”

Rodriquez said she has high prospects for the new executive board for USG. “They [the 2013-2014 USG executive board] are going to do a great job. I am confident that they will be helpful to the Fordham community, and will come up with good and creative ideas for the future,” she said. “This year on USG, we have tried increasing our presence through fliers, e-mail and word of mouth; I am positive that they will bring out more student activity on campus.”

According to Ye, she and the students on the executive board are pleased to be working with each other this coming fall. “I am very excited to work with USG. We [the executive board] know each others’ personalities, and know how to communicate well together; I think we will be great,” she said.

Like Ye, Arce is positive that she and the new executive board will work well together for upcoming fall. “Everyone on the E-board of USG is dedicated and involved at Fordham,” she said. “The people I will be working with are committed, efficient and hard-working people who want to see the club succeed.”