The roomful of students screamed and Asher Lisec spent five minutes gasping for breath after learning Team Lisec won the Student Government Association presidential election. She will be the new SGA president.
Team Lisec won the election by 67 percent, the largest margin in nine years. Out of 3,567 students who voted, 2,396 favored Team Lisec.
"I could cry right now I am so nervous," Lisec said while waiting for the results.
Election results were announced Tuesday night after two weeks of campaigning by two presidential slates: Team Lisec and The Cardinal Movement.
More than 80 people crowded into the Kappa Delta sorority suite to eat snacks and drink nonalcoholic tropical beverages while waiting for the announcement. Vice President-Elect Rodney Blount sipped on a pina colada and said he was not nervous until the very last minute.
The Kappa Delta suite hosted the election party because Secretary-Elect Michele Faroh is sorority president.
"Y'all got invited to the winners' party," she said as she danced around the room.
Treasurer-Elect John Boone had a midterm exam and missed the party and announcement, although Faroh sent him a text message after she stopped hugging Lisec in excitement.
Boone received the text message as the class ended, and said he was relieved it was all over.
"I'm happy students voted for the better slate and I can get to work soon," Boone said. "I have given so many of these presentations, I don't want to talk about it, I just want to do it."
Ben Tietz, former SGA president, wore a powder blue Team Lisec T-shirt to show his support for the slate.
"Both slates have things to offer, but Team Lisec offers a little more because they have a vision, they have a mission," he said. "They understand their job for the upcoming year."
Lisec said the team was ready to continue the work the slate already had in progress. She spoke with Residence Hall Association President Stacy Ploskonka after the election about meeting and fixing the communication problem SGA and RHA have.
The new executive board will be presented to Student Senate today at the weekly meeting. Secretary of Governance Ashley Johnson said she thought the new executives would fit right into the SGA system.
"Student Senate will feel very comfortable knowing that students' best interests are in the right hands, and the system won't have to progress backwards because they will jump right into their platform items," she said.
While The Cardinal Movement did not win, both Lisec and current SGA President Steve Geraci said there were things Team Lisec could learn from their competition.
"They were really committed to trying some new and creative ways to get ideas from students," Geraci said, "and I think Team Lisec can learn from that because they are inside people from SGA and once you are inside it's hard to get ideas from outside."
Additionally, Lisec said she learned there were things in SGA that could be improved and she hoped The Cardinal Movement would work with Team Lisec to make those changes.
Team Lisec will take office March 15 when Team Us, the current executives, step down. The new executives, At-Large and Off-Campus senators will take the oath of office at 3:15 p.m. in the L.A. Pittenger Student Center Cardinal Hall B.
After all the campaigning and work Team Lisec put in to win the election, Blount said they were ready to step up and begin duties.
"It's on," Blount said. "It's time to work, time to get students more involved, more knowledgeable about senate. It's time for us to be in charge."
Read More
Three Air Jam teams take home the win
October 12, 2012Nineteen teams shimmied, shook and flipped for a sold out John R. Emens Auditorium on Thursday night during the 25th annual Air Jam.
Bill Clinton Speaks at North Central High School
October 12, 2012Former President's Speech Could Have Effect on State Senate Race
