BY ELLA BURROWS
The Fort Hays State University Student Government Association Spring elections will take place on Wednesday and Thursday. The elections will be for the 2022-23 academic year.
The Spring Election is for senators, president, and vice president.
Senators representing Freshmen, KAMS, and AMS students will be elected in the Fall of 2022.
Article 4 of the SGA Constitution outlines the composition of the senate and the election of student senators.
The number of student senators representing each college is determined by the percentage of on-campus students within the respective college. Twenty-five student seats are reserved for general election from the five academic colleges.
At least one student senator must represent each academic college. The academic colleges represented in the student senate are the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences; College of Education; College of Health and Behavioral Sciences; Robbins College of Business and Entrepreneurship; and the Werth College of Science, Technology, and Mathematics.
There are five at-large positions in the student senate which are traditionally given to candidates who run for a seat during the spring election but do not win a seat within their college that receive the next highest number of votes.
Mickey Mason and Hattie Lukert both served as freshman senators for the 2021-2022 term and are among those running for positions this year.
Mason is a freshman majoring in Political Science and Trumpet Performance. He is running for a seat in the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences in the hopes of making a difference here at FHSU.
“I am running for a seat on SGA again because I feel like I can make a change. After the crazy last few years with COVID-19 and everything else, I feel like we need people in our Senate who are willing to make drastic changes to empower our student body and connect with each other again, going beyond our political and religious differences,” Mason said.
Lukert is a freshman majoring in Elementary Education. She is running for a seat in the College of Education.
“I am running for a seat on Senate because I believe that although there are many great advancements and exciting things happening on campus, there is always room to improve and make FHSU better,” Lukert said.
Lukert hopes to see more student involvement and higher attendance across the board.
The candidates for 2022-2023 Student Body President and Vice President are Ryan Stanley/Austin Ruff and Nathan Hoy/Kayla Brannick.
Stanley and Ruff are running on the platform of continuing the work that was done during the 2021-2022 term.
“We plan to push the recycling agenda and further work alongside Student Engagement to support and empower student organizations to increase student engagement,” Ruff said. “We love Fort Hays and want to increase the awareness of opportunities across campus. We have both benefited greatly from the opportunities afforded to us here on campus and will ensure that these are accessible to all FHSU students.”
Hoy and Brannick are running on an accessibility platform.
“We want to help the students feel more comfortable and accepted on campus,” Hoy said. “We are committed to enthusiastically promoting student ideas to empower our campus. We will generate positive change at FHSU by leading by your side. We want students to have a voice and feel accepted.”
This is just the second time in FHSU history that the student body president race will be contested.
Last year, current Student Body President and Vice President Mark Faber and Ryan Stanley were on the first contested ticket for the office.
Current Student Body President Mark Faber encourages all students to take part in this election.
“It is important for the student body to get out and vote because the candidates represent them. The president is a representative of student values to the administration of FHSU as well as to the KS Legislator and the Kansas Board of Regents,” Faber said. “High voter turnout is important to get a true representation of what the entire student body wants rather than a select group. Voting takes five minutes and could have a major impact on the trajectory that FHSU proceeds in for the following year.”
Voting in SGA elections will take place via TigerLink on Wednesday and Thursday. The icon to vote can be found on the front page of the site.
For additional information on the Spring 2022 Election, please contact mafaber@mail.fhsu.edu, or visit the SGA office on the second floor of the Fischli-Wills Center for Student Success.