Hendricks-Rose ticket elected next year's Student Government Association administration
Student Government Association President-Elect Jake Hendricks gives an acceptance speech in the Student Involvement Center on April 9.
In three weeks, Student Government Association President Anna Owens will pass the presidency to President-Elect Jake Hendricks, will be joined in his administration by Vice President-Elect Lyndi Rose.
"I think (Hendricks) and I really prepared for the worst but also hoped for the best," Rose said. "And this was the best."
Hendricks, a Traverse City junior, and Rose, a Nashville sophomore, defeated presidential candidate and Indiana senior Shane Guenin and vice presidential candidate and Greenville senior Allison Harrison.
Voting on SGA's two presidential tickets took place from April 1-6 on Org Sync. Results were announced at an Elections Announcement Party on April 9 in the Student Involvement Center, located in the lower level of the Bovee University Center.
Hendricks said being voted in as SGA president by the student body felt "unreal" and is excited to begin working.
"(Rose and I would) like to have some sort of retreat where we get together with prospective or future cabinet members so we can make a plan for next year before summer starts," he said.
Hendricks also said the future of SGA could be visible in the Hendricks-Rose campaign platform.
"We want to stay true to our platform and everything we campaigned on," Hendricks said. "We want to be inclusive and get people to come to our meetings who aren’t in SGA. It’s a pretty important first step.”
Guenin said losing the race won't deter him from further involvement in SGA.
“I plan on being in the cabinet in some capacity," he said. "Right now I’m interested in being (Student Budget Allocation Committee) chair.” If his first choice falls through, Guenin said he'll apply for the City Commission Liaison position.
Harrison was not in attendance at the elections event.
"I have full confidence in Jake and Lyndi and I think it’s going to be a great next year,” Owens said. "It's good to see the camaraderie that can emerge through SGA elections and it’s great to see how the candidates handle that.”
Owens added the Elections Announcement Party was a new development organized by Elections Director Jackie Smith. In previous years, the elections director would call the sitting SGA president, the president would call the winner of the election and then would inform the other ticket(s). The method caused issues.
“Last year there was tension between the candidates after the election," Smith said. "They received calls and there wasn’t a lot of public civility afterwards. There wasn’t really tension in public, just nobody knew who had won the election until SGA posted about it several days later.”
Smith said the event was created to increase transparency between SGA, candidates and the student body.
