Voting window is open! If you are a New College alumni and belong to the NCA, you should have gotten a link to a voting ballot in your email (it would be from “ElectionBuddy”, not the NCA, so check your spam folder if you don’t see it).
The candidates:
Hansen Restrepo, Lauren
Markham, Madi
Rodriguez, Michael A.
Rosenberg, William
Smith, Michael J.
If you need to know more about the candidates, the 4Winds blog has got you covered! An independent candidate’s forum hosted by Bruce Benidt and Grant Balfour was held on Wednesday evening, and is now available for viewing. Alas, Madi Markham was not able to attend, as she was under the weather, but the other four candidates were there. Her responses to the questions are listed below! You can watch it here:
Watch on Descript (it might take a second or two to load, but it does have a transcript available as well).
You can read the candidates’ statements here on the NCA website as well.
VOTE! VOTE! VOTE!!!!!
For more information, visit the NCA Elections 2026 Info page.
Disclaimer: This blog is not actually an NCA project, even though it is run by me, KimBoo York, who works for the NCA as their administrative coordinator.
Maddie Markham’s responses (provided via email as she was unable to attend the forum):
What gives you hope about New College?
Something that gives me hope about New College is that there continues to be students who fit into the “old” New College culture. It demonstrates that the administration hasn’t succeeded in one of their goals, of replacing the student body.
Given the power, who would you replace Corcoran with?
If I could replace Corcoran with anyone, I would replace him with Dr. Pat Okker. I experienced three presidents in my time at New College, and of the three, she also was the one that I saw around campus and interacting with students the most. Students didn’t always agree with her, but she was always willing to listen, which I think is an important trait in a leader.
How would you explain New College to a potential student?
New College was a beautiful place—intellectually rigorous, quirky, creative. It was life-changing for many of us, and shaped so much of who I am. However, it is no longer the institution it was before. The takeover has made so many aspects of the institution dysfunctional—even attending for just one semester of the takeover was so difficult. The quality and rigor of the academics continue to drop, and for LGBTQ+ students and students of color, the college is far less welcoming. I would recommend attending almost any other public college in the country.
Lobbying a legislator – what do you ask for?
I would ask for increased accountability of the institution around budgeting. Many of the harmful and wasteful actions by the current administration have occurred because of the obscene funding the legislature suddenly had available for the school. The budget should be tightened and focus more on students’ academics and wellbeing, not bloated administrator salaries and tasteless vanity projects.
How could NCA increase alumni and current-student involvement?
I think re-strategizing our digital outreach would be a good step. The emails are great, but I think our social media game could be improved (and I have lots of ideas!). I also think more opportunities to meet in person, and calendars of upcoming events would be helpful. We also could run a new survey or otherwise talk directly to alums and students to ask people what they want to see.
What should the Novo Collegian Alliance do for the alum community over the next 3 years?
Within the first year, I think the NCA should develop a strategic plan for the next 5-10 years, with plenty of input from across the alumni community. I think part of that plan should include increasing membership and visibility of NCA, as well as thinking about longevity and what the structure might look like in the long term.
You’re creating a committee to do something for NCA - what does your committee do, and how do you constitute it?
I would create a student relations committee, to handle the connection between the NCA and students. Ideally, we could invite a student or two to join the committee–someone who would be able to directly relay student interests and needs. The committee could cover anything from networking and career advice, to strategizing NCA’s work supporting students. I also think having this established connection to the NCA could lead to more new graduates joining.
Are you willing to take over being treasurer?
While I was a treasurer for a club in college, it was much, much smaller than the NCA, so I’m not sure if I would be the best fit to jump in as treasurer right away. But, I think I can be a quick learner, so if there is a need I might be open to it!
The New College in the News database!