Tuesday night was no typical evening for Weinberg sophomore Whitney Gretz, who learned of her victory as Student Services Vice President while serving as a teaching aid for the Undergraduate Leadership Program.
“I was pretty confident about winning the election,” said Gretz, as she pulled out her phone to confirm the other candidate victories. “I made a true effort to research the issues and get out the vote.”
Gretz, who ran unopposed for the position, received a landslide victory of 93 percent.
“She had a lot of advocates,” said Rachelle Faroul, one of Gretz’s campaign managers. “People on ASG love her and Willard residents supported her.”
Faroul, a Communication sophomore who spent most of her day doing last-minute campaigning, said she dedicated all of her conversations to talking about Gretz.
“I walked around with my laptop in Norris, my sorority and Plex, asking if people had voted,” Faroul said. “If they said no, I made them vote on my computer.”
The anticlimactic victory was also no surprise for Marcy Baskin, Gretz’s friend and campaign manager.
“It wasn’t a problem being motivated, but it would have been a little bit more vigorous of a campaign if we had an opponent,” said Baskin, a Weinberg sophomore.
Gretz plans to focus initially on the creation of summer internship grants and other fellowships.
“Career Services is always looking to improve,” said Gretz. “I think this is one way that would be most beneficial.”
This past year she served as a co-chair of the Student Services Committee, where she lobbied for increased funds for wheelchair accessibility, promoted longer dining hall hours and helped to organize the first “Diversity Roundtable” in two years with student groups such as For Members Only, Rainbow Alliance and College Feminists.
Gretz won endorsement for the position Sunday from the Coalition of Colors and Thursday from the NU Progressive Alliance.
“I definitely plan on continuing to have these discussions in the future,” said Gretz, who also worked on the Housing and Food Services committee, and the Undergraduate Budget Priorities committee last year.
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