As your current, previous, and future MCSG class representatives for the 2013-2014 academic year, we are writing to address many questions you might have about the current status of your elected representatives. We have sensed a lot of confusion about the number of special elections that have been held, and would like to clear up any misinformation out there.

Last spring, five sophomores were elected to MCSG: Joe Klein, Samuel Doten, Austin Clowes, Bassem El-Remesh and William Theriac. Joe Klein and Samuel Doten were forced to step aside from their spots on MCSG as voting members for the fall semester. Both will take their seats and return as voting members in the spring.To fill their vacant positions, we held a special election to elect two new representatives who would serve as voting members for just the fall semester, Jolena Zabel and Justin Randall.

On Tuesday, Oct. 22, Bassem El Remesh informed MCSG that he has been forced to resign from his position as a class representative. Because of this, a special election to fill his seat will be held before Nov. 12. The sophomore elected to replace Bassem will hold this position for the entire year, as opposed to Jolena and Justin, who are serving just until the end of this semester.

We understand that these special elections are troublesome and confusing. Nonetheless, we ask that those interested in being a sophomore representative run for the open position.

MCSG recognizes this lack of consistency as a problem. In response, we will hold a Community Forum event moderated by students trained in Sustained Dialogue last semester. Sustained Dialogue was a Community Chest training offered to students last year to learn how to properly facilitate difficult conversations without alienating any participants in the dialogue. The Community Forum will be in Kagin on Thursday, Nov. 14 from 8-10 p.m. It will include as many Legislative Body and Executive Committee members of MCSG and administrators as possible. This will be an open and advertised opportunity for students to come, to share their opinions, to ask questions and to listen.

Of course, in the meantime, please feel free to ask us any questions you may have. We are your class representatives—past, present, and future­—and it is our duty to help you.