Once the votes were tallied, Juliana Abercrombie, the new Residence Hall Association president, was received at the general assembly with applause.
Leadership of RHA began its annual transformation Thursday as Abercrombie secured the presidency, elected by representatives from across campus. Her executive board faces a similar election this week.
Three presidential candidates presented their platforms to and answered questions from the 29 representatives that make up the RHA general assembly. Janelle Lemish and Corey VanBuskirk ran against Abercrombie for the position.
After a series of deliberations, the votes were cast and Abercrombie was named the president. She will work with current RHA president Chelsea Wheeler until she takes office with her executive board on April 24.
Abercrombie said her election to the office was a thrill and something she has been building toward during her past three years in the organization.
"I've been actively involved in RHA since my first week on campus as a freshman," she said. "Now that I've come full circle with this election, I'm excited to be in a position where I can put my experiences and passion to work, serving the people that I care about most."
Abercrombie first served RHA as the representative for Wilson Hall as a freshman. The following year, she was elected to the executive board as the activities director, and recently served as executive board secretary.
Her experiences outside of RHA range from member of the Latino Student Union to executive secretary of the Student Government Association. She is a National Hispanic Scholar and a Ball State Bold Scholar.
Abercrombie selected four principles as overarching goals for RHA during her term, including internal fortification, representative development, community connection and public relations. Each principle represents a different community that RHA works in.
After ending the deliberation period early, the representatives were not able to gather enough support to satisfy the constitutional requirement for a simple majority on the first vote. The second deliberation period prompted conversation about the candidates, leading to the vote that resulted in Abercrombie's election.
RHA national communications coordinator Ryan Cole said the second vote was necessary because some representatives left right before the first vote was taken.
"The representatives that left didn't understand they had to be present to vote," he said. "They gave their votes to someone else, which isn't allowed."
Once installed as president, Abercrombie first plans to transition her executive board so everyone is on the same page. She said she trusts the general assembly will choose the right executive members, people who are as eager and dedicated to the organization as she is.
"I value teamwork and group participation," Abercrombie said. "I want to make sure everyone is part of the movement of RHA, beginning with this election and my goal to redistribute the executive functions."
Six members of the executive board will be elected at 5 p.m. Thursday in the Park Hall Multipurpose Room. All students are welcome to attend.
Executive board candidates
Vice President - Victoria Wilson, Joey Box and Anna Graham
Secretary - Erika Money and Travis VanMatre
Treasurer - No candidates
Activities director - Josh Shuster, Sarah Noel and Anna Graham
Public relations director - Rachel Spudic and Michael Cox
Issues and facilities director - Kean Zimmerman
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