Some freshman students have no idea what they want to make of their four years after getting into college. However, that wasn’t the case for newly elected student body president Emma Hoyhtya, who had her mind set on student government before even getting to Bradley.
“I think I emailed admissions asking them to help me find the student senate,” said Hoyhtya, a sophomore management and leadership major. “The only reason I found it was because I sought after it.”
She started as a freshman senator and quickly climbed the ranks. Hoyhtya was elected into a chairperson role by the end of her first year and was elected Chief of Staff her sophomore year.
Hoyhtya said campaigning for presidency felt natural. She said a big reason for this was because she felt she had the right team to run with, as the full ticket was elected.
“The people that I asked to be on my ticket are outwardly focused,” Hoyhtya said. “After talking with my team and getting prepared to run, we created a list of things that we wanted to touch on.”
A few of the topics included having diversity be more apparent on campus and making the Bradley campus accessible to handicapped individuals.
Hoyhtya said one of her main goals as the next student body president is to change how the Student Senate is viewed on campus, mainly by establishing good reputations for the student senators and the student body officers, and also by changing the ways that the organization operates.
“I care about the impact that senate has on campus and I think the biggest change I want is having a place for people to voice their concerns,” Hoyhtya said.
Cory Ganshow, director of the Bradley Chorale, has known Hoyhtya for two years. Ganshow described Emma as a strong, curious and passionate leader.
“She is an old soul,” Ganshow said. “She is wise and knows how to actively listen. She has passions and wonders about so many things, and that brings life to her being a leader.”
Ganshow said that Hoyhtya’s skill of being a service-oriented individual will help her in her newly elected role.
During this pandemic, Hoyhtya said that the agenda has shifted, as most of the plans that her ticket prepared were more effective in-person. Projects such as welcome week are put on hold until it is safe to be back on campus and in large gatherings.
“My motto with [the current situation] is I want ‘to get back to business, [not just] back to business as usual’,” Hoyhtya said. “This is changing our lives and we need to be careful.”
Hoyhtya is hoping to get back to campus next year, but is still preparing for the possibility of another semester online. She is keeping students’ and staffs’ safety into consideration and hopes to work with Bradley’s Virus Response Team.
