Gregory J. Layton, D’Andre Mathews and McKell Price conquered final elections Friday and are already preparing for next semester.
Layton and Clint Post battled for the president position, and Layton won with 534 votes, while Post gathered 296.
Mathews and Alex Lambson competed for the vice president of academics position, and Mathews walked away with 471 votes, compared to Lambson’s 358.
Price independently assembled 803 votes.
Layton, a senior English major from Cottonwood Heights, said each candidate strived for success, and he is excited to take the next step into being the next student body president.
“We put in a lot of work, and it showed in our results,” Layton said. “I am extremely excited because I have a lot of ideas and expectations for next year.”
Mathews, a junior biology major from Las Vegas, said because he lost the student body president elections last year, it helped him know how to work through election week.
“Looking back, I’ve learned to not have expectations and just work hard,” Mathews said. “I think what happened was the right thing. The right people are here who needed to be here.”
Price, a sophomore communication major from Brigham City, said her favorite part of elections was the opportunity she had to interact with students and help them understand who she is as a person, and it also gave her a chance to get to know others.
“I wanted to be meeting students … and letting them know that they have a say on campus,” Price said. “It was fun going out there talking to people.”
Post, a senior communication major from Weiser, Idaho, said although he wasn’t successful in achieving the president position, he still feels good about what he did and is grateful for the experience.
“I got to know a lot of students, and that was the highlight of everything,” Post said.
Post said he is grateful for the students who supported him and appreciates how far they helped him go during elections.
Lambson, a junior CIT major from Santa Clara, said he wishes he tried harder and used different ways to gain more votes.
“I’m a little disappointed about it, but at least I lost to someone who knows what he’s doing,” Lambson said.
Both Lambson and Post have not given up and are considering the possibility of running for student body president next year.
The voter turn out ended with less votes than last year, which was a surprising result for most people. Layton said the 2013 election week ended with approximately 1,400 votes, while Friday ended with just more than 800.
“There was definitely a decrease in students voting,” Layton said. “I hope to see it increase.”
Layton said now that elections are over, the next step is to fill the remaining student government positions. He is hoping to create a student government that is more open to students and less of a clique.
Mathews also stressed the importance of having a student government that is diverse and accepting of all students.
“I want someone representing each demographic and [pulling] them under one umbrella to bridge that gap,” Mathews said. “All we’re trying to do is go out and inspire people.”
Mathews also said he, Layton and Price are going to focus on getting to know the students personally and working to help each student’s voice be heard. He said this helped with the vote turnout because they were all going out to personally interact with students.
Mathews said if the student government consisted of a large demographic with a lot of diversity and people who personally interact with students, the Dixie State University Student Association will more accurately represent the student body.
“No one goes missing, and no idea goes unheard,” Mathews said. “Let’s go out and really find out what’s going on.”
Price said her next move is to get everything ready for next year by making plans and putting them into motion.
“[I need to talk] to students and [make] what they need to happen in clubs happen,” Price said. “I’m just excited for the whole process.”
If students are interested in filling the remainder of student government positions, they can visit the dixiestudentlife.com website and fill out an application.
Layton said the biggest thing next year’s student government is going to focus on is what Dixie State University students want for their school and in their student government.
“I would love to hear ideas from any student,” Layton said. “I like to listen, and I want to hear people’s ideas.”
Layton said if anyone has an idea he or she would like to share, please email him at [email protected] or visit the student government room in the Gardner Center.
