Student body president David Pileski was “elected”:https://netfiles.uiuc.edu/ro/www/StudentElectionCommission/ as the new student trustee after Tuesday and Wednesday’s student elections.
Pileski, junior in FAA, will begin his term as student trustee on July 1.
“I’m very excited to be bringing student voice front and center to the administration and board,” he said.
Students voted in favor of the Illini Media Company’s referendum, which proposed a $3-per-semester fee to support the company’s operations.
The fee will also go toward helping the nonprofit company out of its current debt. Lil Levant, Illini Media’s publisher, said she is happy that students voted to support the referendum.
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“We’re proud to have the support in our efforts to continue to provide essential news and entertainment coverage for (University) students, as we have been doing for 140 years,” Levant said. “Our commitment to serving as the University students’ independent voice is unwavering and bolstered by this response.”
The Champaign-Urbana Mass Transit District’s referendum passed, supporting a fluctuating student fee for the next three years in order to maintain its bus service and expand its late-night SafeRides service.
“Students have reaffirmed their commitment to a safe, accessible campus,” said Jim Maskeri, student representative to the CUMTD board of trustees.
Tom Costello, assistant managing director for CUMTD and Illini Media board member, said this fee increase will reflect the changes students want to see.
“The most important thing was that we got together with the students and said, ‘What do you really want?’” he said. “And they said ‘We want to maintain the quality … but we also want a little bit more on SafeRides.’ That’s what they asked for, that’s what we presented, and fortunately, that’s what the students passed.”
Tuesday and Wednesday’s ballot also elected the Student Organization Resource Fund Board, or SORF. The eight elected members allocate student fees to different Registered Student Organizations and cultural houses.
Members of the Illinois Student Senate, or ISS, were also elected via the ballot, but some write-in candidates still must be verified. Melisande Loeppert, Student Election Commission chair, said these write-in candidates must meet the requirements for ISS and also be verified by their respective colleges’ deans.
_Hannah Meisel contributed to this report._
