When the final vote count came in for the 2012-2013 Executive Council, candidates and students alike were surprised by the split across team lines.
Chad Workman, of Team Impact was announced as the new Student Body President. Jared Roberts of Team EXElerate will be the Executive Vice President. Erin Haskell and Clara LeFevre of Team Impact will be Vice President for Academics and Vice President of Activities, respectively.
And Elizabeth Miller will be Vice President for UV Clubs.
With a voting turnout of 8.9 percent, higher than the past few years, only 2,302 out of 25,806 eligible ballots were cast.
It was an uncommon event to have a 3-2 female to male presence on the Executive Council. And the split is also not a common occurrence, according to Beka Grulich, director of Student Activities.
“There is history of this, but it’s not common,” Grulich said. “[The group] is going to have to reassess, and see if they want to draw from both [platforms] and move forward.”
And Workman was not concerned with their ability to move forward as a new team.
“This is unique, this hasn’t happened for years,” Workman said. “I’ve always respected Jared. [He] has a lot of respect from the students and I know I’ll be able to work well with him this year.”
With mixed emotions over winning, yet losing one of his own team members Workman said, “I am extremely disappointed [Ryan Kent] didn’t win with the rest of our team, but at the same time I am overcome with joy and satisfaction and most, but not least gratitude. I’m so grateful for the people who helped with our campaign and for those who believed in what our platform is and what our vision is for the school this next year.”
By Andrea Whatcott
Editor-in-Chief
Congrats to all of the winners!
I felt bad for each candidate that lost today, but I am very confident in the candidates that were elected by the student body. This was a very close race and it was hard fought. The fact that there was a “split vote” only strengthens next years’ executive council in my mind. Best of luck to all of you!
I have been disappointed by the way UVUSA has been covered by the UVU Review. They haven’t been honest and they’ve shown extreme bias. I hope that they will learn to work with UVUSA this next year so that both student groups are strengthened and truly fight for the students.
-Christopher Loumeau
2011-2012 Student Body President