On Nov. 12, the Campus Activities Board (CAB) invited all its members to cast a ballot in the officer election.
This year’s election marked the second use of CAB’s new voting system. In 2023, CAB voted unanimously to revise its constitution. The decision eliminated student body elections. The constitution now states that all voters must be CAB members.
CAB President Beau Benoit was the first president elected using the new voting system. He explained that in-house elections promote candidates who understand CAB’s procedures and purpose.
“We switched elections to in-house due to wanting people with an understanding of CAB to choose who led the organization, rather than it be a campuswide popularity contest,” Benoit said.
Unlike most on-campus RSOs, CAB elects its officers a semester in advance. Next semester, the elects will serve under the current executive council. Benoit reasoned that the officers have a semester to adapt to their new responsibilities and roles.
“Doing [elections] towards the end of the fall semester is nice because it gives officer elects a whole semester to prepare for a role,” Benoit said. “Whether that’s shadowing with previous officers or just getting a feel for what it means to be an officer.”
CAB sent out a form to every member, encouraging them to vote. The RSO has five available officer positions: president, vice president, secretary, treasurer and public relations officer. Benoit said two candidates ran unopposed, although CAB declined to release the officer-elects’ names or new positions.
Sophomore speech-language pathology major and CAB president runner-up Ariel McGee campaigned for the presidency. She disussed her aspirations for the office.
“All the previous officers really set the tone on how leaders are supposed to be,” McGee said. “You kind of want to be like them, but a little bit better. I ran for president because it was something that I’m passionate about. I really want to be there for the students and make campus more of a vibrant community.”
Benoit stated that he hopes to work closely with the new elects and see what new ideas they bring to the organization.
“I am looking forward to showing them how connected they can be,” Benoit said. “Making sure that I can get in touch with as many people as I can has been something that I’ve enjoyed a lot—being really involved in student development as a whole.”
Benoit emphasized the importance of student involvement, especially for the officer-elects.
“I hope that the next CAB president already has their foot in the door in terms of involvement and that they can use the CAB president role as a springboard to be even more involved,” Benoit said.
CAB plans to announce the election results on Dec. 3.
