Student government inaugurates Atlas as 2015-16 executive board

<p>Atlas President Jack Hesser gave his first speech as president of the Student Government Association on April 15 in the L.A. Pittenger Student Center. Hesser, a microbiology and botany major, compared his executive board to the Bacteriophage T4 virus because of the way the members work together. DN PHOTO BREANNA DAUGHERTY</p>

Atlas President Jack Hesser gave his first speech as president of the Student Government Association on April 15 in the L.A. Pittenger Student Center. Hesser, a microbiology and botany major, compared his executive board to the Bacteriophage T4 virus because of the way the members work together. DN PHOTO BREANNA DAUGHERTY

The 2015-16 Executive Board

President: Jack Hesser

Vice president: Richu Aby

Secretary: Austin Acel

Treasurer: Meagan Mullen

The newly inaugurated Student Government Association president compared his executive board to a virus during its inauguration Wednesday.

Atlas’ president Jack Hesser, a microbiology and botany major, said each slate member represents a different part of the Bacteriophage T4 virus with the way they work together.

“It’s not inauguration if we don’t have a poor analogy drawn,” Hesser said jokingly.

The new board includes vice president Richu Aby, secretary Austin Acel and treasurer Meagan Mullen.

The moment the slate was inaugurated, Mullen said it seemed surreal.

“After hearing all of the speeches, hearing the outgoing executive board and hearing Jack’s really interesting analogy of us, it really sends it home,” Mullen said.

Moving forward, Hesser said the slate wants to focus on students and make Ball State a student-centered university.

“When we created our platform and decided to run, it wasn’t about positions,” he said. “It was about Ball State. It was about the passion we had for Ball State.”

After listening to the speeches from the outgoing executive board, Aby said she will appreciate every moment while she is in office.

“It’s not just a position, it’s an experience, and I can’t wait to start this journey,” she said.

While the journey is just starting for them, it ended for outgoing vice president Bryan Kubel. He said leading the senate meetings was the most memorable part for him during the past year. He has been in SGA since he came to Ball State.

“SGA is a part of me,” Kubel said.

He was originally the president pro tempore until he moved up to vice president after junior Carli Hendershot stepped down. It was a shock for Kubel and the rest of SGA.

“I tried to make the most impact for this campus and university in the best way possible,” he said. “I am very proud of what our exec board has done in the last nine months.”

Outside of the changes on the board, the SGA also saw a change in advisers this year. The SGA introduced Associate Vice President for Student Affairs Thomas Gibson Wednesday as their interim adviser. Gibson replaced their former adviser Jennifer Jones-Hall, who resigned from her office in March to “pursue other opportunities,” said Joan Todd, interim vice president for marketing and communications.

But during its time in office, the previous executive board completed 14 out of 17 platform points that it planned to accomplish during the year. Outgoing secretary Rahissa Engle said she is optimistic that Atlas will accomplish many of their platform points during its term.

“We know they are going to do a really great job, because they have been working on it for a while and we know that they will get things done,” she said.

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