HKS Elects Student Gov’t Leaders

After six days of campaigning, David E. Baumwoll and Ryan M. Androsoff were elected as student government president and executive vice president, respectively, of the Kennedy School last Thursday.

Almost 70 percent of HKS students voted, according to Kennedy School Student Government (KSSG) Interim Chair and Chair of the Elections Committee Birgit E. Waidmann,

“The election went very smoothly this year. We had a large number of candidates contesting the positions,” Waidmann said.

Baumwoll, who ran against two other candidates, received 62.7 percent of the votes, and Androsoff received 68 percent of the votes.

Despite running for different positions, Baumwoll and Androsoff campaigned together.

“Since we worked on so much together last year and we had every intention to work together this year, it made sense for us to run together as a ticket, not compete against each other,” Androsoff said.

Both candidates were student representatives last year. According to Androsoff, the two candidates had leadership roles focusing on two major issues facing HKS students—a “funding crunch” for international students who had decreased funding as a result of currency devaluation, and the lack of student input in the decision to eliminate some of the Kennedy School’s social space.

In fact, Baumwoll authored the Student Government resolution this past summer which addressed student concerns after the Hauser Center for Non-Profit Organizations moved into a student social space known as Town Hall.

“I think we’ll represent a paradigm shift at the Kennedy School in terms of student activism and participation in the way the school functions,” said Baumwoll. “Ryan and I are both ready and willing to lead our classmates into a better HKS experience.”

Androsoff echoed his classmate’s sentiments.

“In the campaign, one of the things we talked about was we all have the privilege of being one of the best schools of government in the world,” Androsoff said. “And we deserve a student government that’s worthy of that name.”

Candidates for the positions of Academic Affairs Vice President and Finance Vice President did not secure the 50 percent of votes necessary to win.

As a result, run-off elections will be held between Adam J. Cooper and Christopher Lawrence-Pietroni for Academic Affairs Vice President, and Ibrahim Kuzu and Naushard M. Cader for Finance Vice President. The 24 hour run-off election will begin Monday at 10 a.m.

The new student government will be seated on Wednesday evening.