Sighs and cheers were heard throughout the Union Ballroom as the winner of the ASUU elections, Students Leading Change (SLC), was announced.
Jack Bender, president elect, Jessica Patterson, vice president of student relations, and Matt Miller, vice president of university relations, stepped on stage to say a few words. SLC won by nearly 500 votes over the ONE party.
“It was a crazy experience, going through the whole election process,” Bender said during his speech.
Before the presidential announcement, SLC candidates won eight of 17 Senate positions and more than two thirds of Assembly seats. Sawyer Gordon was named attorney general.
“I thought the race was going to be really close, but once [they] started announcing the Senate and Assembly and their parties, I got really comfortable with what they were going to announce,” Bender said.
SLC’s platform centered around three pillars: lower and appropriate student fees; university and community engagement; and changing the identity of ASUU.
The party plans to break up the 12 percent fee delegated to athletics from university-trademarked items to increase funding in other departments. They also plan to review the fees because U students pay the most to athletics of all Pac-12 universities.
To push involvement, SLC will increase safety on campus with the “It’s on Us” campaign, an organization launched to prevent sexual assault on college campuses. They will create a campus calendar, design a website for students to become more involved around the community and promote sustainable transportation.
They also plan to change how students see ASUU.
“We want to make ASUU incredibly transparent so that people are inspired to be in our positions next year,” Patterson said. “We want a lot of people running and a lot of people getting motivated to be involved in their college in a different way.”
A complete list of the winners can be found at http://asuu.utah.edu/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/2016-General-Elections-Results.pdf.
@SidneyMarchant