Engineers select next generation of VPs

The Engineering Student Council concluded its annual elections Monday night, voting in Frank Yin, SEAS ’12, as VP Intergroup; Audry Padgett, SEAS ’13, as VP Internal; and Sheila Misheni, SEAS ’14, as VP of Student Life.

The VP Intergroup contest was the most hotly contested race of the evening, featuring three candidates.

Yin had dropped out of the race prior to last week’s meeting, but re-entered last week, stating that hearing the presidential candidates speak had inspired him to keep running.

Yin ousted competitors Sidd Bhatt, SEAS ’14, who had experience serving on ESC’s Intergroup Council this past year, and Jim Huang, who brought outside experience serving on the Activities Board Council and co-chairing ESC events such as Glass House Rocks.

During his speech on Monday, Yin stated that his reason for pulling out initially was that he lacked the necessary number of signatures to run. Yin admitted that his role last year as GSSC liaison was a relatively minor position, but stated that his experiences running a $15,000 ledger as a member of Sigma Phi Epsilon, along with other community service work he has done, qualified him for a higher leadership post.

His vision for the coming year includes building a sense of community among Columbia students.

“In order to bring students together, we need to begin with student groups,” Yin said.

The VP Internal competition, unlike the VP Intergroup race, was one of the fastest elections in ESC history—Padgett was announced as the winner after just a few seconds.

Padgett ran unopposed and expressed support for Yin’s platform. She proposed free coffee sessions in Mudd, where engineers could mingle and discuss ideas and classes, as one goal for her year in office.

“I was thinking on a monthly basis [about] reaching out to our constituency,” Padgett said.

Misheni, who was elected VP of Student Life, had given a speech last week but discussion about her candidacy was deferred, as too few votes were cast in her favor last week.

After discussion this week Misheni became the first freshman elected to the executive board this year.

The newly elected members join Nate Levick, SEAS ’12, next year’s ESC President, and Logan Donovan, SEAS ’13, VP Policy for 2011-2012.

sonalee.rau@columbiaspectator.com