The United States is preparing for a historical electoral process this November. The electoral fervor comes to HBS some weeks earlier as we prepare for elections for RC leadership roles. Each RC section will vote for its President, Senator, Educational Rep, Leadership & Values Rep, Student Association Rep, and 13 other positions that will be in charge of leading the pulse of the Section experience.
The electoral process is organized every year by the HBS Senate, which is the student body that creates and regulates campus legislation to facilitate representation. During the fall, RC students vote for leadership positions within each Section. In the spring semester, the co-presidents of the Student Association are elected. This note explains the electoral process for RC Section Leadership, which will start in the second week of classes.
The RC Electoral Process
The electoral process officially starts on Tuesday September 6th at 7pm with an information session in Aldrich 111 where the rules and logistics will be explained. On Wednesday September 7th at 7pm in Aldrich 112 there will be an additional session. All RCs interested in running for a position must attend one of these sessions.
Elections are run in two rounds. In the first round, each Section will vote for a President, Senator, Educational Rep, and Leadership & Values Rep (the name and role of L&V Rep might be different this year). In the second round, all other positions are elected, including the social chairs, treasurer, Student Association rep, women’s rep, athletic rep, international rep, technology rep, admission reps, service rep, media rep, and career rep. Candidates can run only for one position in each round. If a candidate runs for a position in the first round but isn’t elected, he can run for another position during second round.
For the first round, candidates must submit a position paper on Friday September 9th at the offices of Student Academic Services (second floor of Spangler) and fill out a survey that will be distributed via email by the Senate. Candidates will have a few minutes on Monday the 12th and Tuesday the 13th to give a speech (up to 3 minutes) in their section to convince their sectionmates to vote for them. Polls open on Tuesday the 13th and close the next day. Each candidate needs 50% of votes to win and if the threshold is not met, a run-off election will take place among the candidates with more votes.
For the second round, candidates need to submit their position paper on Monday the 19th as well as fill out a survey distributed by the Senate. Candidates will have their speeches on Tuesday the 20th and elections will run from Tuesday the 20th through Wednesday the 21st. Similar to the first round, candidates require 50% of votes to win, otherwise, a run-off election will follow. At latest, all section leadership positions will be voted by Friday September 23rd.
The entire electoral process is led and organized by the Elections Committee of the HBS Senate. All questions related to the process or to specific positions can be directed to Aaron Kinsey and Jamie Huang, who are the EC students in charge of the Committee.
About the HBS Senate
The Senate is the legislative body of the Student Association. All RC and EC Sections have one Senator appointed to the HBS Senate. The Senate represents students with the administration to pursue long-term changes in areas such as academics, housing, services, or technology. It also creates and regulates campus legislation to facilitate representation. Finally, it oversees the work of the Student Association (SA) and student clubs.
As part of their legislative duties, the Senate defines the roles of Section leadership that will be voted during elections. It also approves the SA budget and student dues; runs elections for SA and section leadership; oversees correct implementation of activities by SA and clubs; and identifies key priorities of students in order to communicate recommendations to the administration and faculty.
During the past academic year, the Senate dealt with topics of special relevance for the student body. For example, it made some changes to section leadership that will be seen this year. Among the changes, every section will have a Media Rep, the name of WSA Rep was changed to Women’s Rep, and the SA Rep will have increased responsibilities.
The Senate also sponsored Lectures of a Lifetime providing students with the opportunity to interact with 3 of HBS’s high profile professors (Michael Porter, Clayton Christensen, and David Moss). Regarding oversight, the Senate approved the FY 2016 and FY 2017 Student Association budgets for execution by the Co-Presidents, and ensured HBS clubs transparently reported their finances to club members every semester.
The Senate works through different committees that address student concerns with the administration on issues including technology, housing, academics, campus services, and others. Rafael Rivera (EC Section C) is the Head Senator for this academic year. If you have any question related to the HBS Senate, feel free to send an email to Rafael or to senate@hbs.edu
Annex: Election Calendar
| Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat |
| 5 | 6
7pm: Info session (Aldrich 112) |
7
7pm: Info session (Aldrich 112) |
8 | 9
4pm: Poll and position paper due |
10 | |
| 11 | 12
Lunch time: Speeches in sections E-J |
13
Lunch time: Speeches in sections A-D; polls open |
14
10pm: Polls close |
15
Before 8am: Winners announced |
16
3:10pm: Run-off speeches; polls open |
17
10pm: Run-off polls close |
| 18
Run-off winners announced |
19
4pm: Poll and position paper due |
20
Lunch: Speeches in all sections; polls open |
21
10pm: Polls close and winners announced |
22
12:20pm: Run-off speeches; polls open |
23
10pm: Run-off polls close |
24
Run-off winners announced |
| 25 | 26 | 27 |
28 |
29
7pm: New officer training (required) |
30 |
Aaron Kinsey (HBS ’17) is the Senator from Section D. Prior to HBS, he was an Air Force pilot for 9 years. Aaron is highly interested in politics, real estate and small business and his involvement on campus includes the Armed Forces Alumni Association, the Free Enterprise Club, the Republican Club and the Real Estate Club.
Jamie Huang (HBS 17’) has an engineering background and worked in project management prior to HBS. She’s passionate about the intersection of corporations, community, and sustainability and how she can promote the triple bottom line. In her free time, she enjoys glassblowing and bakes some mean St. Louis gooey butter cookies!
Rafael Rivera (HBS-HKS ’17) is an EC from Old Section C who loves dancing salsa, backpacking, and talking about Mexico. Prior to HBS, Rafael worked for McKinsey & Company in the offices of Mexico City, Mumbai, and Dubai, and for the World Bank in Cambodia. He spent this summer in Goldman Sachs in New York. He’s the Head Senator of the HBS Senate and he plans to work in the public sector in Mexico some day in the far future.
