John Waynick and Sundeep Mutgi won the Undergraduate Student Government presidential and vice-presidential positions for 2008-2009 yesterday after preaching a message of unified goals and ground-breaking action.
‘We went out and campaigned hard and told students what they wanted to hear and what we were going to do to make that difference,’ Mutgi said. ‘But just because we got this [nomination] now, doesn’t mean we’re going to stop. We’re going to keep our promises.’
The team won 1008 of the student votes, with Jarell Potts and Sarah Shepherd taking 810, Jeremy Lehman and Leo Almeida winning 590 and Jake Gallardo and Sean Crisifi collecting 465 votes.
‘No one comes into the campaign with the idea of losing,’ Waynick said. ‘While we were confident, the strength of the other candidates pushed us harder in terms of campaigning and getting our names out there.’
Similar to the previous administration, Waynick and Mutgi plan on tackling USG and student issues as soon as this summer, including the shuttle-bus referendum which was passed by 57 percent of the student body.
According to Waynick, both of the winners will be spending most of their time on campus this summer working on their pivotal issues.
‘The three months during the summer are the most crucial and that’s why we will both be here the entire summer,’ Waynick said.
One of the more notable issues the team will be focusing on is a student bill of rights. This would work to not only empower USG, but to adequately represent the student voice, Waynick said.
They also hope to create a proper transition from the current administration to the next in order to start work on their issues as soon as possible.
‘An effective transition must be in place so that two weeks from now when everyone is sworn in, we can hit the ground running,’ Waynick said.
A continuity plan is also one of the main concerns the new administration hopes to tackle.
In order to improve upon the strides made in the past year, the team hopes to continue and improve on many of the issues brought about during the last few weeks, including instructor evaluations, shuttle-bus routes and putting USG into action, Mutgi said.
‘We want students to know that change is coming and it may not be huge, but we will [not] stop at any issue that the student body is pushing for,’ Mutgi said. ‘We want people to turn around in 12 months and see what we’ve done for them.’
For senior Rachel Pazdziorko, Waynick and Mutgi offered the most comprehensive and straightforward plan needed to make the change on campus she feels is necessary.
‘I have confidence that he will be a very good leader,’ she said. ‘I expect him to follow through with all the promises he has been making in the past month.’
But for sophomore Joanna Pazdziorko, the realistic goals offered by the team were what won her vote.
‘Their goals weren’t lofty goals and they were things that could be accomplished,’ Pazdziorko said.
‘Also, the fact that he was so visual on campus and people saw him and knew him probably affected the results of this election.’
Regardless of the reasons behind their victory, Waynick and Mutgi plan on representing the student body as best they can.
‘We just want to thank everyone who supported us and the entire student body,’ Waynick said.
