Following a relatively uneventful student body officer campaign season, 10 percent of the students made their choice and elected four new SBOs for the next academic year.
With three of the four uncontested races, sophomore Jason Blumenthal, sophomore Sarah Handler, junior Hunter Vaughn and freshman Olga Krapivner were announced as the new SBOs April 9.
Blumenthal was elected president with 358 out of 592 votes cast.
“I feel it’s the start of a good year for the student body,” Blumenthal said. “I’m really excited to see where we take things.”
While Blumenthal ran formally uncontested, sophomore Joe Waytula posed a late potential threat after some members in the greek community asked students to write in his name for president. The effort came up short, with Waytula capturing 144 votes.
The student body chose Handler as speaker of the assembly with 454 votes.
Unlike Blumenthal, Handler, who also ran formally uncontested, did not face any serious write-in competition.
Krapivner was elected secretary of the assembly after less than a year on the Hilltop, receiving 389 votes.
The only formally contested SBO race featured Vaughn and sophomore Kelsie Smith, both vying for secretary of finance. Vaughn beat Smith 302 votes to 192 votes.
Vaughn said he is looking forward to the opportunity and was pleased to be a part of the only contested race in this year’s election.
“I’m very excited,” Vaughn said. “It’s obviously a huge opportunity for me. I’m really grateful that I had some competition. We were the only contested position, and that adds a level of legitimacy to my position.”
The four new SBOs will be sworn in on April 21.
