The newly-elected freshman class president and senators were sworn in at the Student Government Association (SGA) meeting in Mason Hall's Alumni Boardroom on Tuesday. The election was marked by overwhelming participation from the class of 2013, with a 70 percent voter turnout, unprecedented in Hopkins history.
Wyatt Larkin won the close race for freshman class president by 15 votes, beating out five other candidates.
The senatorial election had 14 candidates, with the top six vote-getters gaining positions.
The new class of 2013 senators are, in order of most votes: Moses Song, Alexandra Larsen, Nick Trenton, Archie Henry, Michael Wu and Nicky DePaul.
The elections ran smoothly, excepting minor controversy concerning a candidate's campaigning practices.
"It was a great [election]. There were a lot of people running, which was fantastic," SGA President Marc Perkins said.
Larkin, who has past experience in student government, called this campaign his favorite, stating that it was "very much a personal campaign, with much peer-to-peer contact."
New senator Henry called it "an excellent experience to get to know a good portion of the freshman class."
Larkin emphasized class input. He said that he hopes to, "establish a solid Class of 2013 community, where we have a sense of investment in the University and each other. We live together, study together, have fun together, not just graduate on the same day."
The new senators generally expressed enthusiasm for the upcoming year.
Song hopes to focus on student life, while Trenton conveyed his excitement, saying, "It's going to be a new experience for me."
Half of the senatorial candidates were female. However, of the seven women who ran, only one won a seat on the council.
"It was an honor to be elected and represent the female freshman population. I look forward to working hard and being part of a dedicated council," Larsen, who received the second-most votes, said.
With 943 votes cast, more freshman voted this year than in any previous election.
"I think the combination of [Facebook] use, which wasn't allowed in the last freshman election, plus a well-run CSE [Committee on Student Elections] and lots of candidates all came together to produce the perfect storm," SGA Vice President Evan Lazerowitz said.
"The CSE did a great job in getting the word out [to freshmen]," Perkins said.
The campaign ran from Tuesday, Sept. 29 to Thursday, Oct. 1, with voting taking place from that Thursday to Sunday, Oct. 4.
The candidates were informed of the results by e-mail on Monday and detailed results, complete with percentages and vote counts, were announced to the public Tuesday via the SGA Web site.
Previously, the CSE announced the results publicly at their meetings.
"I'm happy the CSE released the election results in full detail for the first time ever. It adds a high level of transparency and legitimacy to the SGA and the electoral process," Lazerowitz said.
Complete results can be found at the SGA Web site.
