The student organization Oklahoma City University Creatives for Artistic and Realistic Equity recently completed officer elections for the 2021-2022 year.
Sadie Koopman, music theater/vocal performance sophomore, was elected as the new vice president of CARE. Koopman currently serves as the co-leader of the LGBTQIA+ Inclusivity branch, also known as QI.
Koopman said the election procedures were completed using Google Forms. Between Jan. 27 – Feb. 5, members of OCU CARE were able to nominate themselves or others for any elective position. Once the nominations were announced Feb. 5, nominated members chose a single position to run for and present a platform. Voting opened Feb. 10 and closed Feb. 17. All members of CARE were sent a digital ballot. According to the OCU CARE constitution, two-thirds of the members must vote in order for the vote to be valid. The newly elected officers were announced Feb. 24.
Koopman said the officers decided to keep elections open to all members, not just active or regularly attending members.
“In the end we all decided that it was better to have everybody’s voice and make sure it was the voice of the majority of people, rather than focusing on the people who have time, because you’re so busy as a music student, and whether or not you have time for CARE doesn’t make your voice any more or less valuable,” she said.
The other elected officers for CARE are as follows:
President: Nasir Panjwani
Vice President: Sadie Koopman
Secretary: Luke Gilmore
Treasurer: Lily Parker
Community Engagement Officer: Sam Pottinger
Social Media Director: Ella Dolynchuk
Body Empowerment Branch Director: Grace Knight
Queer Inclusivity Branch Director: Eli Nash
Mental Health and Wellness Branch Director: Hunter Semrau
Race and Ethnic Diversity Branch Director: Viviana Goodwin
The only position without an officer is the Disability, Neurodivergence, & Accessibility Branch. A special election for the DNA Branch will be held soon.
Koopman said the CARE Vice President acts as the liaison between represented students, and faculty. She said as the future vice president, she wants to bring more faculty on board and create programs, events and meetings to educate faculty on important issues, such as interacting with gender-nonconforming students. She said she hopes to spread these meetings to faculty in all the fine arts schools, not just the Wanda L. Bass School of Music.
“They have monthly faculty meetings that they use to catch themselves up about what’s going on in the school, and so I think CARE is equally important to that. So, finding a time, whether it’s in that meeting or a separate meeting, to continue educating our faculty,” Koopman said.
Koopman said she was inspired by Gwendolyn Walker, assistant professor of musical theatre at Pennsylvania State University, who recently spoke about the importance of educating faculty at a QI town hall the organization hosted.
Koopman said she thinks CARE’s purpose is to begin to put pressure on faculty at OCU to help create and preserve a safe, positive and equitable environment for all students.
“I think, if we had an ultimate goal, it would be that CARE is no longer needed, and that the faculty really has the information and the resources and the policies and the process of being able to be equitable and safe for every single type of person that walks through the OCU doors,” she said.
Simón Gómez Villegas, music theater/music composition senior, is the current community engagement officer for CARE. Gómez Villegas said most of the nominated officers ran unopposed. He said Pottinger will be an excellent community engagement officer.
“I’m so thrilled. It is such a dream team,” Gómez Villegas said. “I can speak from experience because I’m close to Sam, but also he is a very dedicated, hardworking person and has just so many ideas to help CARE improve the community, and the same can be said for every single person that was chosen for the position. I think each elected officer is very dedicated to CARE, and wants the best for CARE, and wants to help CARE succeed in the community.”
Gómez Villegas said he believes all the new officers are the right people to help CARE grow, create a legacy and establish itself in the fabric of the music school.
CARE’s next event is a Body Empowerment town hall led by the recently elected Grace Knight, music theater/vocal performance junior.
OCU CARE is open to all students. Readers can find more information about CARE and their upcoming events on their Facebook and Instagram pages. Students can join OCU CARE by emailing Gómez Villegas at sgomez@my.okcu.edu for more information, or by filling out the interest form available in the organization’s Instagram bio.
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