Ivan Thomas
The International Student Council finally has a new president after its second presidential election in two weeks.
Anna Velitchkova, a graduate student in foreign languages and literatures from Bulgaria, was elected president, marking the first time in the council's history that a female won the top post. Velitchkova defeated two other candidates, Vinod Kaky and Laval Tshibanda. It was also the first time that the organization had an all female top staff, as graduate student Munima Haque, of Bangladesh, was elected vice president for Financial Affairs, and Diana Camargo, a senior from Colombia, as vice president for Internal Affairs.
The original election for council president was postponed on April 17 after none of the presidential candidates received a majority vote.
Before Wednesday's election began, several issues were once again discussed concerning guidelines and rules of the council. Kaky, president of the Indian Student Council, was not eligible to run for the presidency because failure to meet the grade point average requirements. Since the council made exceptions in the previous election to not follow the guidelines he was granted the opportunity to campaign by a majority vote.
Many questions were raised to the candidates about what they could contribute to the organization, and they each had great approaches, but at the end the lone woman shined.
Velitchkova addressed that many people did not think a woman could run the organization, but her strong argument in the final minutes of the election gained the support of the 14 voters on the council.
"I was fighting against all the prejudice, and against them telling me what I can't do," said Velitchkova. "I want to prove to the council that, although I am a woman, I can perfectly do whatever is required of the president of ISC."
John Li, election commissioner for the council, said whether a man or woman runs the organization makes no difference, and all committee members should be given a fair chance to prove their leadership capabilities to the council.
"I believe that the new people of this council will bring many new ideas, and I encourage that," he said.
With the election aside, ISC will continue to focus its efforts on the proposed tuition increase for the fall. Argus Tong, a senior in foreign language and trade and current president of the council, has made a petition for students to sign in order to combat the proposed18 percent increase.
The council's next meeting is may 9 in Ballroom B of the Student Center at 9 a.m to discuss their satisfacton with the proposal. All students are encouraged to attend and state their opinions on the issue.
Reporter Ivan Thomas can be reached at ithomas@dailyegyptian.com
Published on 11/17/05; 12:24:44 PM
