The freshman class and The Associated Students of California Baptist University have decided on the representatives for the freshman student body. These representatives, who run for two positions — freshman class senator and commuter representative — were selected from among the ranks of the CBU class of 2018.
Initially there were six runners for the freshman class senator positions: Justina Dreschler, pre-nursing major; Chase Burns, business administration and marketing double major; John Victory, political science major; Angelica A. Gallegos, pre-nursing major; Cassie Vela, sociology and intercultural studies double major; and Breanna Saucedo, biology and psychology double major.
Ashlee M. Smith, communication disorders major, was the only candidate for freshman commuter representative.
Justina Dreschsler, one of the candidates for freshman class senator, said she wanted to run for elections to have the opportunity to serve others.
“My purpose in wanting to become a leader is to serve Jesus first and foremost,” Dreschler said. “Secondly, it is to serve the freshman class.”
The initial freshman elections took place from Sept. 16-18 through an email sent to freshmen.
Freshmen who voted in the election were rewarded for their participation by ASCBU with a Lancer shirt given to them at a booth in front of the Alumni Dining Commons.
“ASCBU had really high expectations because we handed out so many packets, and we ended up with six well-qualified candidates,” said Joseph Moorman, sophomore political science major and vice president of communication for ASCBU. “Because we had so many well-qualified candidates, we were eager to see the outcome of the elections.
“We were kind of anticipating a run-off, since we have them mostly every year for different campaigns, but we didn’t expect there to be three candidates in the run off, running for the two remaining positions,” Moorman continued. “Overall, we are very excited to have these new members on our team.”
In order to win one of the three freshman senator positions, each candidate had to receive more than 50 percent of the popular vote. Burns won this majority initially, earning him one of the spots during the first round of elections.
“I feel very honored and blessed to have this opportunity and to be chosen by my class,” Burns said. “I take that seriously because that means I am trusted to lead them and I can only do that through the Lord.”
However, as there are three positions for freshman senator, a run-off between Dreschsler, Victory and Vela occurred to decide the representatives for the other two positions. The run-off for this election took place from Sept. 19-24.
The winners were informed Sept. 29. The three candidates chosen to represent the freshman class for the school year are Burns, Victory and Vela.
“I was so shocked when I found out I was elected into ASCBU,” Vela said. “I didn’t do any campaigning. I just talked to people and hoped they would want to vote for me, so getting the email was unbelievable
for me.”
