"The first thought that came to my mind was, where are the women?" freshman Katie McIntyre said of the first time she saw the SG officers assembled. "This can't be fair. I couldn't even hear the words coming out of their mouths. I was too focused on the injustice that I thought was going on."

But what may have appeared to be an injustice is something of an electoral anomoly according to SG president Ryan Ramsey. While no one can speculate what was on the minds of voters who placed only men in executive student positions, Ramsey doubts the group's makeup is due to anti-feminist sentiment on campus or within SG. But he said he has not ignored the fact.

"There was no agenda behind this and we are well aware of the problem," he said.

Though he may call the circumstance a problem, he doesn't think the board's makeup is a detriment to the campus.

He also believes that the appointment of senior woman Dean Taylor as chief of staff will bring balance to the exective branch of SG.

"We needed someone to represent the other half of the student body and knew that we should appoint a female chief of staff," he said.

"We believe that Dean Taylor will balance out our office and is well qualified for the position. We want to continue to encourage diverse students to take an interest as well."

The new administration

Last spring two people ran for President, Ryan Ramsey and senior Sean McGuire. Sophomore Jeana Harrington and senior Jonathan Willingham faced off for the position of secretary and for the position of treasurer, sophomores Randy Gray and Laura Bergfield ran against one another. Senior Speaker of the House Andrew Blaisdell ran unopposed.

In the past three years, there has been at least one female executive representative on the executive board.

President Ryan Ramsey himself has worked under female President, Mandy Carlson, '01, as co-chair of the academic committee. And during that same year, there was only one male in the SG office.

Andrew Blaisdell commented that this year's cabinet is fairly diverse and that it just happened to work out this past year that there are no women in the executive branch. He continued by stating that each candidate was elected based on experience and not sex. And all of the men in the executive branch are attempting to make up for the lack of women within their office, staying away from what Ramsey does not want to be considered a "locker room."

Does it even matter?

Taylor said she was never cognizant of the fact that that the executive branch was all male until someone pointed it out to her. She never saw it as a deterrent for continuing in Student Government throughout her college career and believes that when it comes to SG, gender isn't the point.

"The student body generally makes good decisions of who it elects as legislators and executives, basing its decisions on the candidates as individuals, and on their experience and platforms, not on stereotypes,"she said.

That then begs the question, why do certain students continue their involvement with SG all the way to its highest offices, while some lose interest or leave the group?

The executive members agreed they continued their political careers because of their passion and dedication for the job and through encouragement of their predecessors. They believe that the same will happen in the following years, attracting diverse candidates.

"I can almost guarantee that this will not happen next year, Ramsey said.

Years to come

If a visitor walked into the Student Government office, they would soon realize that the pictures on the wall of each executive branch of the past, clearly shows the diversity within each group. For example, two years ago, there was only one male in the executive branch.

Sophomore Laura Bergfield, who lost a treasurer's race last year to sophomore Randy Gray said a lack of female candidates in future elections would have a negative efect on the campus community.

She added that this year's circumstance shouldn't discourage women from running in the future.

"With the freshman class having such a low turnout of candidates this year, it will remain an issue if things are not changed. I find myself scanning the pictures in the office and counting the girls that were on the executive branch in the past," she said.

"The only way that this will not become a pattern is if the underclassmen look past the faces of four white males and see four dedicated people who love what they do. Don't let initial appearances discourage you against running for an office, even in the spring. If you love student government, get involved. Don't be intimidated"

Moving forward

Members of the branch are unable to say if there is a difference in having only male perspectives versus females since it is so early in the year. They said gender has not yet been an issue but are prepared to deal with it fairly should it arise.

But Bergfield thinks that students should avoid situations like this year's, adding that it's on campus women to climb the SG ranks.

"If you don't change it now, you'll have a repeat of this year," she said. "We need strong girls to step up. Our biggest core is from freshman, if we lose that, it will hurt us in future years. You'll have an opportunity to run again for a position in the spring, take advantage of that."