Eastern Michigan University Student Government announced Thursday evening Jelani McGadney will be the new student body president.
McGadney and his running mate, Jeffrey Chicoine, garnered 1,176 votes in the election. The results for the other presidential candidates are as follows: Muneeb Khan received 781, Phoebe Coneybeare had 468 and Jacob Speck collected 241.
McGadney and Chicoine said they’re thrilled and energized to begin their new jobs.
“We’re excited and at the same time nervous knowing there’s a lot of responsibility in representing the entire student body,” McGadney said.
The pair said together, they have quite a few things they want to begin right away, but one is examining the people involved in student government.
“I think my first order of business is to look at the executive board and work with the transition team,” McGadney said.
Chicoine said he’s already had conversations with the directors of the various committees.
“We’re going to take a look at their positions to see if they can be added to, to be made more effective,” Chicoine said.
As far as bringing everyone on board to work together – including those who voted for other candidates – McGadney said communication is the best way.
“Well, I think for me, continuing to meet with students and continuing to make connections to make sure all of the student body is behind student government is the way to go,” he said.
In light of the possible cuts to higher education funding, McGadney said working and coming together as one will be more important than ever.
“I want to thank everyone who voted, he said. ”This upcoming year is going to be a tough year, and we need students to keep us on our toes and make sure they hold us accountable.”
Chicoine agreed and said he wants students to know, not only will they represent them, they will defend them, as well.
Patrick Holubik, director of communications, said voter turnout increased in comparison to last year.
“We had a huge increase,” he said. “Last year, there were 782 that voted for the executive tickets. We’ve increased that by almost 2,000.”
Holubik said he credits the increase to the marketing Student Government did, but also an increase in students becoming more involved.
“I worked with IT to get the election on my.emich.edu so people don’t have to go out of their way,” he said. “I think it’s because our student body has become less apathetic.”
A transition team and inauguration meeting will be held at 6:30 p.m. April 4 in room 310A of the Student Center.
