After nearly a year as Panhellenic Council (PHC) president, Mairys Joaquin is confident she is leaving the position in good hands.

Sara Linkosky, president of Pi Beta Phi sorority, was elected Tuesday to succeed Joaquin as the 2010 PHC president. Also running for PHC president was Gamma Phi Beta sorority President Ariana Seidel (junior-journalism and political science), whom Linkosky described as "very qualified."

Joaquin (senior-journalism) said while both women would have made very confident, capable leaders, she has known Linkosky (junior-political science) for several years and feels confident in her abilities.

"I feel very comfortable relinquishing my role and leaving it to her," she said. "I know she'll make a strong, affective leader for the next term."

Linkosky said she had planned to apply for PHC president for some time and was excited to be elected to the office.

Her platform includes continuing "to promote communication, dedication and most of all, integrity," she said.

She also hopes to improve the reputation of greek life at Penn State within the non-greek community and to further unify the Panhellenic community.

"There's a couple of programs I'd like to promote," she said. "There are so many causes, things that we don't know about that definitely deserve our recognition."

The positions of executive vice president and vice president for standards were also voted on Tuesday night but did not receive the majority vote required to make a decision, said Kara Zinger (senior-English), PHC vice president for communications. Both positions will be re-opened for other candidates to apply.

The offices of vice president for programming, vice president for finance and vice president for membership were filled Thursday.

The executive board elections were scheduled several weeks earlier in the semester than in previous years to allow for a longer transition period, Zinger said.

"A month of transitions is going to be a huge help," she said. "It will really affect how prepared the new officers are to take on their new positions."

Zinger said the executive board positions are open to any Panhellenic Council sorority member. Candidates for each position must turn in a paper application and speak in front of the executive board and sorority presidents.

The position of vice president for communications has not yet received any applications and is still open to potential candidates, Zinger said.