United Student Government (USG) elected Djellza Pulatani, Fordham College at Lincoln Center (FCLC) ’24, as the organization’s new vice president on Thursday, Oct. 14. 

“I’m really grateful and honored to serve as VP, and I’m really excited for the endeavors that this year holds. I’m just excited to create a lot of change on campus,” Pulatani said. 

Prior to the election, she served two terms as a first-year senator during the 2020-21 academic year and was elected as a sophomore senator this fall. She decided to run for the role of vice president when it became vacant. 

“Inviting the VP is usually reserved as sort of a treat for the VPs that are doing their job, so if the VP isn’t really fulfilling his duties, he’s not invited.” Joe VanGostein, GSBLC ’22

The position opened on Sept. 30 after Robert Sundstrom, FCLC ’22, announced his resignation. Sundstrom cited exclusion from responsibilities such as attending executive meetings with the president and adviser as the reasoning behind his decision.

Joe VanGostein, USG president and Gabelli School of Business at Lincoln Center ’22, said that the procedure of allowing vice presidents to be involved in executive meetings is something the president can decide to permit. Inclusion in these meetings will be reimplemented with Pulatani as vice president. 

“Inviting the VP is usually reserved as sort of a treat for the VPs that are doing their job, so if the VP isn’t really fulfilling his duties, he’s not invited,” VanGostein said. “Because Djellza has been fulfilling her duties — and she’s been doing them really well — going forward, the VP will be invited to these executive meetings.” 

Pulatani supported this change in procedure.

“That will allow things to go a little bit smoother because you have both the VP and president in those meetings, so I think it’ll be very beneficial to USG as a whole.” Djellza Pulatani, FCLC ’24, new USG VP

“That will allow things to go a little bit smoother because you have both the VP and president in those meetings, so I think it’ll be very beneficial to USG as a whole,” Pulatani said.

The election procedure that took place was unusual because of the mid-semester vacancy, but VanGostein cited precedent for the election that took place. 

He said during the 2019-20 academic year that Tina Thermadam, former USG president and FCLC ’20, allowed Sundstrom to run for the facilities chair position without advertising it to the student body.

“Because that happened, we were able to do the same thing (with Pulatani). So we opened the position up to anyone within USG who was eligible,” VanGostein said.

Multiple members of USG were planning to run for the position, but at the meeting, it was determined that Pulatani was the only one who had the necessary qualification of being involved in USG for two semesters. 

According to the USG constitution, the president pro-tempore would traditionally fill the vice president position in the case of a vacancy, but that did not happen since the president pro-tempore has not been elected yet. The students running for the position do not fit the constitutional requirements for the position, according to VanGostein. 

“I feel really lucky that USG is very supportive and that the president is so easy to work with.” Djellza Pulatani

“Therefore, our only option was to look to precedent,” he said.

Dorothy Wenzel, adviser to USG, was not at the meeting when the election took place and said she cannot comment on the decision yet. Wenzel added that she is excited to get to know Pulatani more in her new role.

In addition to her new role as VP, Pulatani is also chair of the committee on sexual misconduct and plans to make educating people on sexual misconduct a priority.

According to Pulatani, she still needs to be trained as she takes on the vice presidency, but she feels “really lucky that USG is very supportive and that the president is so easy to work with.”

“He really has welcomed my vice presidency with arms wide open,” she said.