Dodgson dominates

Presidential candidate Derrick Dodgson, Sci ’12, wins with 61 per cent of the vote

Engineering Society’s president-elect Derrick Dodgson ran on a platform aimed at sustaining Queen’s engineering traditions
Image by: Ron Yan
Engineering Society’s president-elect Derrick Dodgson ran on a platform aimed at sustaining Queen’s engineering traditions

Derrick Dodgson, Sci ’12, was announced as next year’s Engineering Society (EngSoc) president last night at Clark Hall pub after defeating candidate Rachel Currie 488 votes to 312 votes.

Dodgson, currently EngSoc vice-president (Society Affairs), ran on a platform of sustaining Engineering traditions at Queen’s, registering EngSoc as a corporation and proposing a co-curriculum transcript that would include both grades and extra-curricular activities.

“I have lots of plans and lots of ideas I’d like to make happen. We’ll see what’s first up, but I don’t know what that’ll be yet,” Dodgson said.“I’m just really excited … to be able to have the opportunity to take all these ideas I’ve had, all these things I’ve wanted to do, and actually have the opportunity to make them happen.”

EngSoc Chief Returning Officer, Cassie Frengopoulos, gave the election results around 11 p.m. to the revelers at Clark, though the announcement was pre-empted by an online report posted by the Journal after receiving information earlier in the evening.

Voter-turnout for the EngSoc presidential election was 29.6 per cent.

Currie ran on a platform that concentrated on seeking student-input with little emphasis on concrete plans. Despite last night’s result, she said she wouldn’t change her approach.

“It probably hurt me to a degree. I think there are a certain number of people who look for very specific plans,” she said. “But I think that overall it’s not acceptable to run a campaign on things that students want to hear.

“If it was going to be 97 per cent against me I would still run based on my personal morals and I wouldn’t change things just for the sake of more votes.”

Currie said she has faith in Dodgson, who achieved 61 per cent of the 800 votes cast in the presidential election. “I’m confident in the students’ abilities to choose their leader and I respect Derrick for winning the race.”

Lone candidate Josh Randall was acclaimed vice-president (Academics), Claire Wunker was acclaimed vice-president (Operations), Matthew Reive was acclaimed vice-president (Student Development) and Alexander Dimitrakopoulos was acclaimed junior senator.

“I’m ecstatic. I’m really excited, nervous too obviously. But I’m in a good mood; it’s my birthday,” said Wunker.

For the incoming executive, current EngSoc president Victoria Pleavin warned against allowing the job to become an obsession.

“Learn how to take a break every once and a while or this will really eat into your personal life,” she said. “Don’t kill yourself over the job, but do as much as you can.”

With files from Craig Draeger and Maghan Blakey

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