Grand Marshal (RPI)

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The Grand Marshal, or GM, is the highest elected student leader of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. The position has been in existence since shortly after the American Civil War.

Contents

Article V, Section II of the Rensselaer Union Constitution, defines the position Grand Marshal and establishes this position as the presiding officer of the Student Senate and an ex officio member of all committees and role as the leader and the chief spokesperson for the entire Union.

Powers and duties

The Grand Marshal is normally a nonvoting member of the Student Senate. However, in the event of a tie, the Grand Marshal may cast one vote. The Grand Marshal has the power to appoint student representatives. However, any appointments made may be nullified by a majority vote of the entire Student Senate membership.

The Grand Marshal serves on Institute committees as representative of the student body, and meets with the President and Board of Trustees to represent student interests. [1]

History

The position of Grand Marshal was created in 1866 to honor a student respected and admired by his classmates. [2] Major Albert Metcalf Harper of Delta Phi was elected and presented a ceremonial sword, as was fitting for a major during the Civil War. His function was to head and represent the entire student body on all occasions in all relations, thereby giving it a formal unity. Except for a few years during the 1890s, Grand Marshals were elected each year, usually in the spring, and this provided, as it were, the culminating event of the student calendar with celebrations of the Grand Marshal's election and installation.

The election customs were well established by 1882, when Independence Grove, a strangely named junior, of Chi Phi, was elected Grand Marshal. In 1883 occurred a characteristic Grand Marshal's election night on May 26. William A. Aycrigg was chosen without opposition in Harmony Hall, used for many years for the purpose, and the retiring marshal was presented with a suitably inscribed gold-headed cane. The students then filed into the streets and, headed by Doring's Band, paraded through the city, with Greek fire displays and houses illuminated. They stopped at Boughton's hat store, where the new marshal was presented with a high silk hat, still used symbolically as the headgear of the office.

A common practice of the student parade was to serenade the students of the Emma Willard School, located in downtown, as well as some of the professors and school dignitaries at their homes, and they generally responded with speeches of acknowledgment. At about eleven at night the parade returned to Harmony Hall for food, drink and dancing. Until the wee hours of the morning, the press reported, the shouts and plaudits could be heard for blocks on the still night air. In 1883 the total expenses of the election were $212.50, raised by class assessments, and they included $28 for the hall and damages to it, $127 for the music, and $12 for the services of the 8 policemen at the hall. [3]

The political order on the postwar Rensselaer campus was also transmitted from the past and continued to function despite discontent and the desire for reform. The Student Union as an association of all students had its roots in the nineteenth century, although its modern and formal organization dated from 1908. Its two heads, one the Grand Marshal, and the other, president of the Union, carried great prestige, and harked back to the nineteenth century. They were the occasion for an annual student campaign, election, and celebration which were encrusted with tradition and lively youthful antics. On these foundations was erected in due course a broad system of student elections, comprising class officers and members of the Student Council, in which the fraternities almost from the first played a prominent, if not dominant, role. The spring week of hectic campaigning and voting culminated in the celebration of Grand Marshal's Night. How genuinely democratic this election system is can be debated, but it has persisted as the one unifying, all-Institute event, accompanied by the frenzied excitement of electioneering characteristic of American politics generally and caricatured by the exploits and ebullience of youth.

The election of the Grand Marshal has undergone many changes since the position was created in 1865. In the 1880s the GM was elected by a "caucus" of students at a location off campus in an environment that might not have been conducive to intelligent voting. These 1886 Transit illustrations indicate that the process was reformed. Institute regulations, city and state laws, and changes in society have continued to modify election events. In spite of change, Rensselaer alumni share fond memories of these GM nights, days, or weeks, whether they were held on or off campus and with or without certain beverages of entertainment.

GM Week celebrations

Today, a special committee plans the "GM week" events, which occur in the last week of March. The week kicks off with events in the Armory; in the past these have included twister, miniature golf, rock climbing, a pie eating contests, and laser tag. [4] Then there are dozens of events each day of the week, hosted by various clubs and fraternities. Events usually include battle of the bands style concerts, tennis and volleyball tournaments, fireworks, and engineering contests such as an egg drop competition from the top of the JEC. At the end of the week, the final induction ceremony is often held in the Houston Field House.

Grand Marshals

There have been 157 Grand Marshals in the history of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, with a single two term Grand Marshal. Ben Viner ’24 was elected Grand Marshal during Grand Marshal Week 2023 and is currently serving for the 2023-24 term. [5]

Years of ServiceGrand MarshalGraduation Year
1865-66Albert M. Harper1867
1866-67Frank J. Hearne1867
1867-68 Virgil G. Bogue 1868
1868-69John Pierpoint1869
1869-70Thomas O. Morris1870
1870-71George C. MacGregor1871
1871-72David Reeves1872
1872-73Daniel A. Tompkins1873
1873-74James N. Caldwell, Jr.1874
1874-75William L. Fox1875
1875-76Morris S. Verner1876
1876-77Coddington Billings, Jr.1877
1877-78George S. Davison1878
1878-79Robert R. Bridgers1879
1879-80Frederick S. Young1880
1880-81Thomas D. Whistler1881
1881-82Independence Grove1882
1882-83Robert J. Pratt1883
1883-84William A. Aycrigg1884
1884-85Leverett S. Miller1885
1885-86James E. Larrowe1886
1886Edward B. Ashby1886
1886-87Halsey B. Pomeroy1887
1887-88James M. Africa1888
1888-89Paul O. Herbert1889
1889-90William Easby, Jr.1890
1894-95Athol M. Miller1895
1895-96Henry B. Voorhees1896
1896-97Charles J. McDonough1897
1897-98Thomas R. Lawson1898
1898-99Gustave A. Keller1899
1899-1900Parley L. Williams, Jr.1900
1900-01James W. Davis1901
1901-02William H. Young1902
1902-03Edward W. Banker1903
1903-04Homer G. Whitmore1904
1904-05Cuyler W. Lush1905
1905-06William S. Lozier1906
1906-07Herman S. Chalfant1907
1907-08Horace W. Rinearson1908
Years of ServiceGrand MarshalGraduation Year
1908-09Robert A. Searle1909
1909-10Carl W. Schedler, Jr.1910
1910-11James T. Ganson1911
1911-12Frank B. Watkins1912
1912-13Edward D. P. Gross1913
1913-14Philip C. Rummel, Jr.1914
1914-15Glenn W. Tisdale1915
1915-16John H. Howard1916
1916-17Walter L. Johnson, Jr.1917
1917-18Harry F. Parrott1918
1918-19Newell L. Nussbaumer1919
1919-20John Van N. Richards1920
1920-21John S. Thompson1920
1921-22Neal D. Howard1922
1922-23Gardner S. Staunton1923
1923-24William M. Stilwell, Jr.1924
1924-25George V. Robbins1925
1925-26H. Fuller Stearns1926
1926-27Marvin H. Anderson1927
1927-28James M. Robbins1928
1928-29Bernard F. Wade1929
1929-30Edward P. Kennedy1930
1930-31Richard E. Warren1931
1931-32Meredith H. Thompson1932
1932-33Howard H. Disbrow1933
1933-34Carl H. Wunnenberg1934
1934-35J. Russell Schwarting1935
1935-36Walter F. Powers, Jr.1936
1936-37Richard V. Anderson1937
1937-38King Ward1938
1938-39Eustace P. Hetzel1939
1939-40Henry T. Moeckel1940
1940-41Frank J. Sherry1941
1941-42William L. Hawks1942
1942Allen R. Stokke1943
1942-43Jack V. Richards1944
1943-44William D. Peace1945
1945-46Frank P. Waters1947
1946-47Richard L. McLaughlin1948
1947-48Ronald F. Ball1949
Years of ServiceGrand MarshalGraduation Year
1948-49Daymon E. Jordan1950
1949-50Gerald S. Ellsworth1950
1950-51Gibson W. Smith1951
1951-52William F. Payne1952
1952-53Geraldo O. Penna1953
1953-54Glenn O. Brown1954
1954-55Robert W. Fox1955
1955-56Larry O. Edwards1956
1956-57David R. Murphy1957
1957-58James F. Morgan1958
1958-59David E. Lord1959
1959-60William J. Murdoch, Jr.1960
1960-61J. Gregory Crozier1961
1961-62Gary B. Garofalo1962
1962-63Michael D. Spear1963
1963-64Gordon N. McIntosh1964
1964-65Charles H. Harper1965
1965-66Dolf H. Beil1966
1966-67Kenneth A. Ullman1967
1967-68Alan P. Hald1968
1968-69Zachary I. Levine1969
1969-70W. Scott Staruch1970
1970-71Mark P. Rice1971
1971-72Thomas J. Engellenner1972
1972-73Robert J. Koch1973
1973-74Ross B. Gingrich1973
1974-75Donald Michael Stull1976
1975-76Gordon E. Michaels1975
1976-77Ira S. Tackel1976
1977-78Mark R. Feinstein1977
1978-79John A. Malitoris1978
1979-80Paul J. Kowalczyk1980
1980-81William P. Duggan1980
1981-82Peter Traversy1983
1982Jeffry A. Langan1982
1982-83James E. LaPosta1980
1983-84Mary P. Garrity1983
1984-85Richard E. Glassberg1985
1985-86John H. Cerveny1986
1986-87Catherine Eckart1985
Years of ServiceGrand MarshalGraduation Year
1987-88Douglas K. MacKechnie1987
1988-89David A. Sovie1989
1989-90Eric M. Lambiaso1990
1990-91David W. O'Connor1991
1991-92Mark N. Fellenz1991
1992-93William A. Wheeler1994
1993-94Kristin Delvental1994
1994-95Sonny Jandial1995
1995-96Gregory J. Waters1997
1996-97Kristen Trout1997
1997-98Mamani Datta1998
1998-99Erica Kulesza1999
1999-2000Eric Schmidt2001
2000-01Joseph Greco2001
2001-02Gil Valadez2002
2002-03Christopher Mather2003
2003-04Michael Borzumate [6] 2004
2004-05Michael J. Dillon [7] 2005
2005-06Max Yates [8] 2006
2006-07Carlos Perea2007
2007-08Julia Leusner2008
2008-09Kara Chesal2009
2009-10Michael Zwack2011
2010-11Benjamin Hunt2011
2011-12Lee Sharma2012
2012Russell Brown [9] 2014
2012-13Kevin Dai [10] 2014
2013-14Charles Carletta [11] 2014
2014-15Kyle Keraga [12] 2015
2015-16Marcus Flowers [13] 2016
2016-17Paul Ilori [14] 2017
2017-18Justin Etzine [15] 2018
2018-19Stefanie Warner [16] 2019
2019-20Meagan Lettko [17] 2020
2020-21Advaith Narayan [18] 2021
2021-22Cait Bennett [19] 2022
2022-23Cait Bennett [20] 2023G
2023-24Ben Viner [21] 2024
2024-25Vivian Rost-Nasshan [22] 2026

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References

  1. ↑ "Rensselaer Union Constitution". Archived from the original on 2014-05-02. Retrieved 2014-04-30.
  2. ↑ "Grand Marshal" . Retrieved 2008-05-16.
  3. ↑ "History" . Retrieved 2014-04-30.
  4. ↑ Victor Parkinson (2004-03-31). "GM Week 2004: Miniature golf, twister, laser tag fail to inject joie de vivre into opening night". Archived from the original on 2006-09-12. Retrieved 2008-05-16.
  5. ↑ "GM Week election results".
  6. ↑ "Polytechnic Online [Connection attempt failed] ( 1040 : Too many connections )".
  7. ↑ "Polytechnic Online [Connection attempt failed] ( 1040 : Too many connections )".
  8. ↑ "Polytechnic Online [Connection attempt failed] ( 1040 : Too many connections )".
  9. ↑ "Senate elects new GM Russell Brown".
  10. ↑ "New GM, PU elected, outcomes close | the Polytechnic".
  11. ↑ "PHOTO: Carletta, Sileo elected GM, PU".
  12. ↑ "R&E releases GM Week 2014 election results".
  13. ↑ "GM Week elections ongoing | the Polytechnic".
  14. ↑ "Student government elections come to close".
  15. ↑ "Etzine, Rand win GM, PU races".
  16. ↑ "Warner, Etzine win GM, PU races".
  17. ↑ "Lettko, Kennedy win GM, PU races".
  18. ↑ "Narayan and Choiniere win GM, PU races".
  19. ↑ GM Week Elections Results. YouTube . Archived from the original on 2021-12-11.
  20. ↑ "GM Week election results: live updates".
  21. ↑ "GM Week election results".
  22. ↑ "Vivian Rost-Nasshan elected Grand Marshal in runoff election".
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