Most school elections are popularity contests. People will choose the face that they know, rather than the candidate that may be better for the position.
Hutch Williams’ popularity and prominence on campus is one of the reasons I voted for him last year. I later regretted that decision; I came to realized that just because Williams was popular didn’t mean that he was right for the job.
His school spirit, which I once found endearing, has become increasingly obnoxious and overshadows the fact that he hasn’t done much as the president of FUSA. It would have been really nice to see Frank Fraioli ’08 run against Williams, even if he was the underdog.
Many people are not familiar with Fraioli, but that doesn’t mean he wasn’t a good man for the job. Instead of using flashy campaign posters and adding “Stag” in front of every word to increase school spirit, Fraioli made more realistic campaign promises. Fraioli wanted to bring more attention to diversity at Fairfield and bridge the gap between FUSA and IRHA, the two most important student groups on campus. He catered to the groups that weren’t addressed by Williams.
I am disappointed to see that these students will have no candidate to represent them in the election. It would have been refreshing to see a new face, not a painted one, as the president of FUSA next year.
While Hutch brought more movie and mall shuttles to campus, I feel that these actions were too little, too late. Not only did the trips only start second semester, these new shuttles have little significance to me as a sophomore with my car on campus. A lot of Hutch’s “improvements” cater only to the freshman class, leaving the upperclassmen feeling deserted. Some weekends at Fairfield are packed with activities, while others don’t have an event in sight.
One of the things I looked forward to most on campus, the fall and spring concerts, were merged into one “super” event this year. FUSA splurged on O.A.R., disappointing students with an outdated and tired act. Usually if a student didn’t like the fall act, they could look forward to the spring concert, but not this year.
Other than the shuttles, a bunch of free t-shirts and more people saying “stag-tastic” while making stag horns on their foreheads, I don’t see the change that Williams promised as FUSA President.
Even though Fraioli pulled out of the election, it would be great to see someone else run and, more importantly, win against Williams.
I’m sick of hearing the same tired campaign promises, similar to the promise of a soda machine in middle school elections. I would have really liked to see a real change in Fairfield, and even though Fraioli is no longer running, I’m still not voting for Williams.
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