Last Friday, the new Student Union was elected into office. Among the various positions vying for representatives, however, the most eagerly anticipated news was the results of the race for Student Union President. After a close race between three highly capable contenders, Ricky Rosen ’14, David Clements ’14 and Daniel Schwab ’14; Ricky Rosen was determined the winner.
Originally, Rosen, the current Executive Senator of the Student Union, was not extremely confident that he would be the victor. “It’s absolutely an honor and a privilege to be able to serve the student body,” he said. “It was a very close election, and I really wasn’t sure how it would turn out. When I got the email [containing the results], I was overjoyed.”
Part of the reason Rosen was elected president was his agenda, which was both ambitious and highly descriptive, including such issues as dining reform, additional assistance with student off-campus housing, transparency of tuition and a larger role of the Student Union within the school. Rosen wants to start working on his goals quickly, and knows that doing so is both time consuming and difficult.
“I’m not going to wait to start working,” he said. “I already met with the Executive Board yesterday, and plan on meeting with the administration on dining very soon, making sure that student input is part of process. I want to make sure that students are comfortable with dining options on campus, something I emphasized with the school administration.”
Rosen already made waves around campus with his highly publicized Youtube video, in which he was kept hostage and interrogated by Aramark, Brandeis’ food provider. Additionally, Rosen started the campaign to get school administrators to eat food from Sherman Dining Hall for an entire week to see, or taste, for themselves the quality of the food that most students on campus eat on a daily basis.
“I’m going to get started as soon as I can,” Rosen reiterated. “I’m looking to make ’Deis Day celebrations an annual part of the Brandeis community—make it a spirit rally where all clubs and sports teams can participate. I also plan on meeting with the Board of Trustees, and make sure they understand what I want our relationship to be.”
“I’m really glad that the students of this university recognize all the hard work that I put in and that I will try my hardest to make the student experience at Brandeis even better.”