The Lawrence University Community Council welcomed 14 new district representatives Monday to the first General Council meeting of the year.
LUCC President, junior Johnathan R. Vanko, noted, “We are very pleased because we received many applications for LUCC positions, and over 500 people came out to vote. We are thrilled for this term, and the district representatives are also very excited.”
One of the district representatives, freshman Christine Colascione, joined LUCC because she “wanted to be a resource for people.” An anthropology and psychology double major with a minor in philosophy, Colascione felt that her past leadership positions in high school prepared her well for representing District Six, which includes Sage Hall, the Outdoor Recreation Club house, the Sustainable Lawrence University Garden house and the Phi Tau fraternity house.
Colascione’s fellow district representative, ORC resident and sophomore Inanna Craig-Morse, noted that she aspires to “learn how to work with people to create policies, as well as effect change.” She is also eager to learn the process of allocating funds as a member of Finance Committee. Craig-Morse is currently a government and economics double major, with the hopes of designing her own major in “Sustainable International Development.”
Across College Avenue, sophomore Jasmine Winters commented that she “wants to see if [she] can connect Plantz Hall and the small houses with little get-togethers.” Winters is a representative of District Three, which includes Plantz Hall and all residences north of College Avenue. As an active member of Colman Hall’s Hall Council last year, Winters “decided that LUCC was the next step.”
Winters is not alone in planning events for her district this early in the term; sophomore Kenneth Henry is also keen on “building a sense of community” in District Five, or the Quadrangle. He is hoping to overcome the diversity of the quadrangle houses with a barbecue specifically for quad residents each term.
Colascione, Craig-Morse, Winters and Henry are just a few of the many members that represent a well-led, student-run organization. Each expects to have a role in changing their districts for the better and intends to directly benefit their constituents.
Prior to entering Lawrence, sophomore Sarah Jane Rennick noted that she “did not realize that Lawrence’s campus life was so student-run. From Honor Council to LUCC, the students seem have an incredible amount of power.”
Rennick, a recent transfer student, compared Lawrence’s community council to her former school’s. Said Rennick, “I hardly knew that University of Wisconsin-Fox Valley’s student government existed, and more faculty were involved than students.” Rennick and sophomore Sam Clary represent District One, which includes Colman Hall, Brokaw Hall and residences off campus.
Sophomore Jack Canfield, District Two representative of Ormsby Hall and Hiett Hall, shared a similar admiration of LUCC. “LUCC is not just some club because everyone is a part of it,” Canfield said. “In fact, the only faculty member on Finance Committee is not even allowed to vote.”
Canfield also anticipated getting conservatory students more involved in LUCC because he noted that currently he is the only conservatory student on the council.
Pablo Galván Tello, Canfield’s fellow representative, revealed that not only students from other stateside schools were surprised by LUCC’s student leadership; he had never even heard of a student government before he came to Lawrence from Mexico.
Concluded Galván Tello, “By dreaming of a better future for Lawrence together, we want to make all your wildest dreams come true.”