Unopposed candidates Conor Flynn and Hannah Gwynn were elected Santa Fe College Student Body president and vice president on Wednesday night.
Justin Deese was elected treasurer with 42 more votes than his opponent Timothy Bergman.
Flynn and Gwynn said they are excited and look forward to taking office.
“We want to hit the ground running,” Flynn said. “We’re excited to be able to push the issues of the students to the front of our agendas and Student Government’s agenda.”
This year, 692 people voted. Turnout was lower than last year’s when 1,134 students voted. There are about 15,700 students enrolled in Santa Fe, meaning about 4 percent of students voted.
Flynn, Gwynn and Deese will take office the night of April 15 after they are sworn in at Student Senate.
Chief Justice Elana Gold announced the winners nearly two hours into Wednesday’s Senate meeting, after senators debated on then approved the 2015-16 budget.
No candidates ran for chief justice, meaning the position will be left vacant after Gold leaves office.
Flynn and Gwynn will face challenges as soon as they take office.
The most immediate is resolving what Gwynn calls the personal drama in SG that many senators say has prevented Senate from properly functioning for the past two semesters.
They also plan to become more connected and engaged with students by hosting monthly town hall-style meetings in the Oak Grove and sending leadership team members to all of Santa Fe’s campuses.
“I’m extremely, extremely happy Justin won,” Senate President Jeremy Pierce said. “I can’t tell you how happy I am.”
Deese said he plans to distribute Santa Fe’s activity and service fees toward clubs so there will be more money to spend on what he said he thinks will benefit students the most.
To be effective in their new positions, Student Body President Austin Browning said Flynn and Gwynn will need to be problem solvers who can keep order in SG, as well as be proactive in reaching out to students.
“I think they’re going to be a good team,” Browning said. “But only time will tell.”
After Leadership Team announcements, senators also approved a $700 overflow request by the club Society for Nerds to attend MegaCon next month in Orlando.
Senate also approved two bills, one which clarified the allocation of overflow funds and one which removed a $10 fine against students who broke campaigning rules.
[A version of this story ran on page 1 - 4 on 3/26/2015 under the headline “SFC student exec ticket, treasurer elected”]
From left: Santa Fe Student Government Senator-elect Iyanuoluwa “Isreal” Okeowo poses for a photo with President-elect Conor Flynn, Vice-President-elect Hannah Gwynn and Treasurer-elect Justin Deese at the senate meeting on Wednesday.
