Jason Nichol is eager to begin serving as Student Government Association president in a community where his roots run deep.

“I grew up here and my dad is a professor here,” Nichol said.

Nichol, a Mount Pleasant junior, and Brittany Mouzourakis, a Garden City junior, were elected as SGA president and vice president Friday evening. The pair beat five other pairs of candidates, taking 33 percent of the vote.

There were 2,081 students who voted in this year’s election, a 359-vote spike more than the 1,722 votes cast in 2008. Six tickets ran for the SGA top spots this year.

“I was hoping there were going to be more votes this year, even though we finished with a higher total than last year,” said Laura Rynbrand, SGA election coordinator and Grand Rapids freshman. “Having six tickets I thought more students would be involved.”

Nichol and Mouzourakis beat a field of six tickets for the head of the body’s executive branch:

Kentwood senior Tim Popma and Pittsford senior Bob Simmons; Kalamazoo freshman Stephanie Glidden and Flint junior Sarah Lechota; Clarkston junior Lauren Elias and Allen Park junior Shane Farrell; Sandusky senior Brandyn Lawson and Brighton senior John Reineke; and Chelsea junior Allison White and Bay City junior Victoria Kukla.

“All of the tickets this year made it really close,” said Simmons. “We are happy for Jason and Brittany – they will do a good job.”

Nichol and Mouzourakis ran on a platform of strengthening core academic programs, increasing undergraduate retention, and focusing on in-state recruitment. “It was really good to see all of the competition this year, but we worked our tails off,” Mouzourakis said. Nichol agreed.

“We had a solid core base of people helping us out this year,” Nichol said.

Nichol said he plans to get going on the duo’s platform issues right away, and that he wants to make sure that everyone is involved in the process.

“We want to continue to build what was started and have an impact on campus,” Mouzourakis said.

Inauguration for the candidates is April 13. Rynbrand said that Nichol and Mouzourakis will have until then to observe the current president and vice president, Montgomery senior Paul Pridgeon and Kingsford senior Brad Sjoquist.

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