Photo by Micaiah Bushnell
by Madeline Linnell ‘17
Managing Editor
On Sept. 15, four names were added to GCSA’s roll call: Grace Sanchez-Morales ’18 (VP of Communications), Daryus Vaughan ’20 (Representative at Large), Anthony Clewley ’20 (Rep. at Large) and Joshua Grambow ‘20 (Freshman Class Rep.). Grambow, however, was the only one who ran contested. His opponent was the “retired” White House intern, Saba Amare ‘20.
The two campaigns employed creative methods to advertise their candidacy. For two hours, Amare met and chatted with students at her lemonade stand stationed by the Bell. Grambow, meanwhile, dispensed free candy and a Bible verse outside of Lane.
The candy appears to be the better tactic. Now the Freshman Class Rep., Grambow can look forward to exercising his vision.
As stated in his platform, Grambow said, “Imagine an environment in which all groups were provided equal opportunity in their consideration for funding, from the beekeeping club to the soccer team. This is my goal. I would also provide transparency, maintaining integrity in my pursuits by keeping the student body informed and aware of my actions. My priority would be to seek fairness, faithfulness, and love in my influence.”
Despite the heavy competition, Amare and Grambow did not hold conflicting opinions. In fact, the freshmen expressed the same, poignant desire during the GCSA Forum, and that is to increase awareness of diversity on campus. Grambow said he wanted to implement this mantra by boosting the presence of minority groups, such as ALANA.
Representative at Large Vaughan also shares this view. Vaughan supports the notion of “embracing our differences.” These students are only a month into “the Gordon life” and already want a stronger emphasis on diversity.
Of the entire student body, 28% are ethnically non-white and international, according to the Gordon website. Calvin College reported 14.2% in the fall of 2015, while Wheaton College had 20.4%. Compared to these institutions, then, Gordon is an ethnically and racially diverse place.
Yet, these representatives want something a bit more than big enrollment numbers; they want a celebration of the numbers.
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