Pizza, soda and laughter filled the Theta Chi fraternity house Tuesday night as The Cardinal Movement and its supporters optimistically awaited the results of the Student Government Association election.
But the laughter soon turned into a unified sigh as William Garvey, Elections Board chairman, announced on television that Team Lisec would serve as Ball State University's new SGA executives.
"I was disappointed - upset," said Kristin Woeste, treasurer candidate for The Cardinal Movement. "It's like you put all this work into it. It was worth the experience, but when you find out, it's something that's disappointing at the same time."
Especially because, for The Cardinal Movement, the past two weeks have already been an uphill battle.
"I think we kind of fought opposition through the entire two weeks," Scot Allen, presidential candidate, said.
A primary challenge the slate faced was that its members were not part of SGA, while Team Lisec candidates already had ties to SGA.
"We went out with no previous experience in SGA," said Tyler Clemens, secretary candidate. "We turned a lot of heads in this election, and we're very proud of that."
Slate members embraced each other, and supporters gave a round of applause to commend all the hard work The Cardinal Movement put in throughout its campaign.
Clemens said he had expected more students to vote for The Cardinal Movement, especially since many of the people slate encountered said they would support the slate.
"I definitely thought it would be a little bit closer than what it was," Clemens said. "I think we definitely thought we were going to get more votes than what we got ... I feel if everyone had voted who said they supported us, we would have won."
Woeste said she was also surprised that the total number of student votes this year decreased from the number who voted during the Tietz-Manship race in 2004. Voter turnout is definitely an issue SGA will have to work on, she said.
"To find that number out absolutely blew my mind," she said, especially with the wide range of publicity ranging from the campus newspaper to posters about the election.
Clemens said lack of knowledge about the election and overall apathy about SGA contributed to the low numbers.
But he hoped students were happy with the slate that would soon represent them, he said.
"I hope the decision that those 3,000 made are good enough to represent the whole Ball State community," he said.
Members of The Cardinal Movement hope Team Lisec will implement its goals for students and even incorporate some of The Cardinal Movement's suggestions.
"I hope they accomplish everything they said they would," Clemens said. "I guess I'm hoping they will go through with their ideas because if they do, it will make Ball State a better place."
Clemens said he would still like to get involved with SGA, though he is not sure how yet. But he said the items on The Cardinal Movement's platform would not go ignored.
"We're going to work on it anyway because we still feel it's what the students want," he said.
Overall, even though the election did not turn out the way The Cardinal Movement hoped Tuesday night, slate members were pleased they could breathe a sigh of relief after all its hard work.
But the fight is not over.
"Not to worry because we will be back next year," Clemens said. "This relaxed type of slate - this slate that's going to come in and change things. We will be back."
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