After an open, democratic election that diverged from its traditional closed selection process, the Institute of Politics (IOP) announced yesterday the members of its newly elected student governing body.

The elections on Tuesday, a month after IOP Director Sen. David H. Pryor announced he was disbanding the Student Advisory Committee (SAC), were defined by brief speeches and voting by all active IOP members.

"It's very different from the [previous] SAC selection process because everyone involved in the IOP had a chance to vote," said E. Clarke Tucker '03, a newly elected member of the director's task force. "The results are different because the people elected have more of a electoral mandate than they have ever had before."

Robert F. McCarthy '02, who was elected president, will lead the student programming committee as it embraces its new structure next semester.

"We've been through tough times, and we have a lot of work ahead of us, but the result of our efforts will be an improved IOP," McCarthy said.

Pryor said he thought the new process of leadership selection would benefit the IOP.

"I think that the election has generated some new leadership talent and also some excitement," he said. "We will be going into the spring semester attempting to draft a framework of student government for the institute."

Most students involved expressed the hope that democratic elections would increase student involvement for those who were not elected. Some students said previous leadership positions, selected by SAC members, turned students away from the IOP.