By RAEGAN NEUFELD
Tiger Media Network
Ella Burrows and Emma Day have been re-elected as the student body president and vice president for next year at Fort Hays State University, defeating Jackson Sinsel and Joanna Carrillo.
Their re-election and the other election results were announced at the Student Government Association meeting Thursday night. According to Legislative Affairs Director Austin Ruff, voter turnout more than doubled from last year, with 469 ballots cast.
Winners of this year’s elections earn a seat for the 2024-25 school year on SGA.
President/VP
Ella Burrows and Emma Day
Werth College of Science, Technology and Mathematics
Audrey Rymer
Noah Erichsen
Anthony Arial
Parker Opat
Chloe Knipp
Omoyemi Oluwaseun
Morgan Fischer
Robbins College of Business and Entrepreneurship
Elle Hutchinson
Luke Hampl
Abel Ogunla
Tim Post
College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
Grace McCord
Brenna Schwien
Madison Albers
Mickey Mason
College of Education
Cade Becker
College of Health and Behavioral Sciences
Star Parham
Tory Maris
Guadalupe Urbina-Montes
Graduate Student Senate Seat
Jianna Rojas
International Student Senate Seat
Marcell Dely
At-Large
Jaydyn Doyle
Khloee Braun
Olumide Ajulo
Alyssa McCormick
In addition to the election results, senators heard from Dean of Library Services Ginger Williams about Forsyth Library renovations. The process has started, with staff, services and materials being moved to different locations, and the renovation will be done during the spring or summer of 2026. A detailed status update can be seen here.
“One of our major goals in doing this renovation is to use the space more effectively than it is right now,” Williams said. “Many of your faces are unfamiliar to me, and that’s a sign that you’re not using the library right now because it’s outdated. It’s older than most of your parents, and it’s not conducive to studying.”
Before making the renovation plans, the biggest piece of feedback the library received from students was a need for more natural light. As a result, the main floor will have 23-foot wide windows on all four sides and the front foyer will be glass instead of stone.
Other additions include more individual and group study spaces, a presentation space and a café.
According to Williams, the placement of spaces within the library was more intentional when creating the renovation plans.
“That’s why the map changed so much,” she said. “We took everything off the map and said, ‘Where do these things actually belong? Where ought they be? Where would somebody want to find them in the library?’ So, we think it will be much easier to find what you’re actually looking for. We think it will be more inviting.”
In other news, Burrows reported campus police will increase patrolling at the intersection of Dwight Drive and Lyman Drive following concerns brought up at last week’s meeting. Last week, senators discussed making the intersection a four-way stop.
“They will be doing some increased patrolling, for now, to kind of monitor speed in that area and see if there’s other ways we can improve safety before we move to installing stop signs or anything else,” Burrows said.
Burrows also informed senators she vetoed a resolution that passed last week. The resolution, which was presented by the Legislative and Political Action Committee, called for patio furniture outside of every residential building. Burrows said she agrees with the resolution, but the Residential Hall Association is the proper organization to go through for that request, not SGA.
According to Burrows, RHA added outdoor furniture to Victor E. Village last year, and she thinks it would be no problem to add more to other residential buildings.
“I would recommend working with RHA first,” she said. “If you don’t get any more, then we can come back and do a resolution. I just personally feel like a resolution is a really big statement on behalf of our organization, and it’s not fair to Residential Life or to the university to make a resolution without asking for what we’re demanding with the resolution first.”
The next SGA meeting will be at 7 p.m. April 4 in the Black and Gold Room of Memorial Union.