On Wednesday, April 6, SGA Elections Commissioners sophomores Sage Krombolz and Alison Sheehan announced via email that juniors Matt Swain and Iris Kang won the 2016-17 election for SGA President and Vice President, defeating Daniel Berry and Natalie Pudalov.

During campaigning, Swain and Kang presented a platform focused on improving academics, tradition, student life, athletics and ideas for reform. Having won the election, Swain and Kang expect to reform the Budget Allocation Committee (BAC) by limiting allocation per student group to make funds more accessible for all campus groups. They will also strive to make SGA more efficient and accessible by creating an electronic form for students to voice concerns to Senate and ensure that Campus Safety functions as a benefit to students rather than as a disciplinary institution. 

Several students expressed optimism for the upcoming school year with Swain and Kang as SGA President and Vice President. Sophomore Annie Thurston voiced her excitement for their promise to demand greater campus inclusivity.

“I like how Swain and Kang want to create more positions in Greek life for students that want to participate but aren’t getting the opportunity due to the limited number of fraternities and sororities. I think it would be awesome if they could add another sorority because having just three is such a small number and it would really allow more female students to participate,” Thurston said.

Thurston, while happy with the elected President and Vice President, also noted that she appreciated the opposing ticket’s platform. In their platform, Berry and Pudalov focused on prioritizing mental health initiatives by reducing stress and anxiety and collaborating with Colgate’s Counseling Center. 

Other students also expressed satisfaction with the election results. 

“A deciding factor for choosing who to vote for was the support given to Greek life by Swain and Kang,” first-years Maddie Loffredo and Amelia Fogg said. 

First-year Jack Bernabei took great interest in Swain and Kang’s athletic reforms.

“I’m really excited that the winning candidates want to promote tailgating and increase attendance at sports games. I think this is a great way for students to get together, have fun, and support the athletes that work hard to represent our school year round,” Bernabei said.

Swain explained how he and Kang approached the campaigning process.

“Iris and I were lucky to have the campaign team that we did, a fantastic, committed and hardworking group of individuals. Not only them but even people completely unaffiliated with the campaign were wondering how they could help, which was a great sign,” Swain said. 

Swain also addressed the techniques used during the election process in order to gather support and respond to the concerns of the Colgate community. 

“We knew that in this election we were going to take a ground up approach, getting out there to meet students and give them the opportunity to voice their concerns. If I had to pick one thing I think it would be ‘Dorm Storming’ where we would get out in dorms, knocking on doors, speaking to study groups and more. Doing this gave us the opportunity to open up a dialogue to students about relevant issues on campus, and start off the trend of making student government, especially Iris and I, accessible to the students,” Swain said.

Swain shared his reaction to winning the election.

“I had many of my close friends and campaign team with me. While many of them were simply relieved after what had been a stressful time, I couldn’t help but let out a big ‘wahoo.’  I am both excited and humbled that we were chosen to run the SGA next year,” Swain said.

Swain expressed his short and long-term goals for the 2016-17 academic year. 

“The first thing Iris and I want to do is make sure we surround ourselves with individuals who can help us realize not only our goals but the student body’s goals. Our top priority is to create the structures for transparency and efficiency in SGA, which both Daniel [Berry] and I saw as a priority. Once we can accomplish this, I hope the student body will utilize these tools to tell me what our next priority will be,” Swain said.