USG reps depart posts amid schedule conflicts, leaders scramble to find fill-ins

Updated: Thursday, Jan. 15 at 8:10 p.m.

We’re off to a running start!

Thanks to unfortunate planning, USG is beginning the semester with negative two (-2) student representatives — and now leaders of the organization are scrambling to find replacements, sources said this week.

Special elections will be held next week to fill the empty seats.

Cara Jacaruso, GSB ’15, and Christine Phelan, GSB ’18, resigned their posts as class senators because their academic schedules conflicted with their USG responsibilities, according to Nevin Kulangara, president of USG. (Neither responded to a request for comment.)

A special election for Jacaruso’s seat was originally scheduled to be held this week, but has since been pushed back to allow for “more time to advertise,” according to an internal email Sarah Skrobala, vice president of USG, sent to the organization.

Cara Jacaruso (left) and Christine Phelan

She encouraged senators to advertise the open positions on social media, saying: “We cannot do this without your help!” USG will post informational flyers around campus by the end of the week.

But Kulangara insisted he is not worried about filling the positions.

“Given the number of students who have already expressed interest in filling these positions, we do not have any concerns in the short or long run about diminished student interest in USG,” he said. “We rescheduled [the election] just to get as many qualified candidates as possible.”

“We fully support Christine and Cara with their decision,” Kulangara said during USG’s meeting on Thursday.

Both Kulangara and Skrobala have promoted the vacancies on Facebook.

Alongside a trend of traditionally poor voter turnout and a perception of inactivity among the student body, attracting Rose Hill students to run in USG elections has become somewhat of a challenge in recent years.

Following our first report, USG leadership released a statement Thursday night.