Kent Interhall Council, or KIC, elections were held in late March just before Spring Break, and six students were elected as new hall council members.

 Student candidates have to be nominated by a residence hall council, and the nomination needs to be seconded by another residence hall council to be final. If nominees choose to accept the nomination, they must turn in a bid packet for hall councils to look over in advance. At the election, candidates give a speech and then hold a Q&A session for the hall councils. Afterward, candidates leave the meeting where the hall councils decide to appoint the person to the position or not.  

Current KIC president Christine Francisco, said each hall receives votes in the election based on their size. Large halls with over 600 residents can get up to four votes, while small halls with under 600 residents can get up to three votes.

Brie Jutte, junior communications studies major, was elected the new KIC president March 11. Jutte said she has plenty of leadership experience and will be great in her role as KIC president.

“Since my freshman year, I’ve enjoyed going to KIC,” Jutte said. “I’ve been in hall council both my freshman and sophomore years, and this year as a junior I’m an RA.”

Jutte said she ran unopposed for president of KIC but that didn’t guarantee her position. The hall councils could have voted no confidence if they didn’t believe she had the credentials to become KIC president, Jutte said.

Jutte said she already has plans for her upcoming presidency.

“I want to be able to provide a recruitment process so all hall councils are formed at the same time and give some consistency between (them),” she said. “I also want to visit each hall council meeting at least once a semester. I think it’s important for the KIC president to know the individuals in the halls.”

Junior nursing major Emily Nighswander was elected as vice president. Nighswander said she has been a part of KIC since her freshman year and will have plenty of responsibilities.

“I’ll be in charge of all the large-scale programs like Lil’ Sibs Weekend and Sex Week,” she said.

Sophomore history major Dallas Trescher was elected the director of business operations. She said she’s always loved hall council and looks forward to the responsibilities ahead.

“I’m already a part of hall council at Engleman and I just wanted to have a bigger leadership role and make a bigger difference,” Trescher said. “I’m going to be in charge of the budget and in charge of doing the rental system on campus. I’ll also be in charge of running the whole KIC office, from filing paperwork to all the background stuff so everything runs smoothly.”

Junior public relations major Megan Corder was elected as the new director of student relations. She said some of her responsibilities would include overseeing the diversity committee and the open student forum.

“I’ll be overseeing any publication, coordinating open student forum, and I’m responsible for two activities with the diversity committee in KIC,” she said.

Corder said the open student forum is a chance for students to talk, ask questions and bring issues up to members of Residence Services and Dining Services.

Along with open student forum, Corder said she wants to educate students on diversity.

“I really think it’d be neat to do a documentary series that highlights different diversity issues,” she said. “I want to educate to advocate.”

Laura Roch, sophomore human development and family studies major, was elected as the new director of community development.

Roch said the main responsibilities she will have would be strengthening the community among residence halls.

“I want to have a face-to-face day,” Roch said. “It will be about direct communication to promote community building by having residents talk face-to-face. I want them to put down their phones for a while.”

Roch said she also wants to focus on the relationship halls have with downtown Kent. She said she wants to connect the residence halls with the shops and businesses downtown and let the residents know of everything that the city has to offer.

Junior nutrition major Katie Turner was elected as the new director of leadership development.

Turner said she will be responsible for promoting leadership in KIC and the residence halls along with hall council training.

Turner said she wants to make sure students have the correct resources for leadership development.

“I’m passionate about leadership, and I want to make sure it’s valued and demonstrated,” she said. “I want to make sure everyone has the resources they need to be an effective leader.”

The elected candidates will take their positions from Fall 2014 to Spring 2015.

Contact Martin Harp at [email protected].