Provost wins election

Deon Provost will be the next Student Union president after beating out his next-closest competition by a little more than 30 percent of the vote.

Jon Marker won the vice presidential race while Matt Bennett and Marc Weber won the elections for secretary and treasurer. The winners were announced Friday afternoon in the George Sherman Union.

Provost, a current senator from Myles Standish Hall, won with 1,316 votes, or more than 50 percent of the total, beating out four other candidates for the position. Mike Myers, the current vice president of residence life, took 505 votes.

Provost said he is excited to start working on a new Union constitution and on other policy recommendations over the summer.

“I feel like I’ve been officially delegated responsibility by my peers, and I’m excited about getting started,” Provost said. “The job seems a little daunting, but that comes with any responsibility, I think. I strongly feel like we can get a lot of things done this year.”

Marker, a current Warren Towers senator, was elected vice president by defeating five other candidates, bringing in a total of 737 votes.

“This is wonderful,” Marker said Friday. “I can’t wait to get started. Right now I am in disbelief. This is amazing.”

With a total of 1,088 votes, Matthew Bennett was elected secretary of the Union, and Marc Weber was elected treasurer with a total of 1,372 votes.

“I feel really good,” Weber said. “I think the students made the right choice. I’m going to do the greatest job I possibly can.”

A total of 2,635 students turned out to vote online in this year’s election, up from last year’s total of 2,585 voters. The turnout represents 17.9 percent of the total number of eligible undergraduate voters at Boston University.

“University information systems compiled the vote and two separate people did a blind vote to confirm the results,” Student Activities Office Director Carolyn Norris said. “So they are definitely accurate.”

Bennett said he was happy to have been elected secretary and is looking forward to working with the other newly elected member of the Executive Board.

“I’m really glad that [Provost and Marker] won,” Bennett said. “They’re really great. I think we’re going to get a lot done.”

Provost said he is confident that the newly elected E-Board is capable of making a lot of positive changes together and getting a lot of work done.

“I think we’ve all already established a good working relationship by equally gaining the support of the student body to carry out their wishes,” Provost said. “I don’t think words could capture the respect we have for each other. I don’t think there will be a conflict of ideas as much as a conflict of priorities. But I think that responsiveness to feasible plans is a priority for all of us and I think that’s what will make this E-Board extremely productive.”

Under the Union’s new structure, established by Dean of Students Kenneth Elmore, one of Provost and the rest of the E-Board’s main responsibilities as president will be to create the framework for a constitution.

“I have a lot of ideas, but I want to get lots of feedback from varying interests to ensure that we can start productively next year, as opposed to hitting a wall of dissent,” Provost said. “I feel that by incorporating multiple views over the summer, we will be better able to serve the student body from the beginning of the year forward.”

Provost ran on a platform that emphasized campus unity, Guest Policy changes and administration accountability.

“One thing that will definitely be in the constitution is an article that outlines the manner in which the administration will have to address policy proposals directly before the student body,” he said.

Provost said he believes administrators will be receptive to the proposal but feels the greater issue is how students and administrators will compromise on issues.

“I don’t think the administration will react negatively to being held accountable,” he said. “I’ve already spoken to the dean of students and he thinks it’s a great idea. He’s expressed support for it.”

Provost said he wants to complete a framework for a new constitution by June, and the new E-Board will shift its focus to other student issues after that.