ONLINE UPDATE Szewczyk wins Student Senate presidency

Sophomore Matt Szewczyk is now a part of University history.

On Thursday night Szewczyk won by a margin of 89 votes to become the new Student Senate president and the first independent candidate to defeat a member of the Bulldog Party for that position.

Szewczyk said he feels absolutely ecstatic about his victory, and he is looking forward to leading the student senate in a new direction.

"I think the students have been dissatisfied with the student government for a while, and this has probably been a buildup over the past couple of years," he said. "I am honored I was chosen for the vision that I have. … I plan on making our body a lot more student-oriented."

Szewczyk said as president he plans first to pass a resolution calling for senate members to get out into the campus community and gather ideas for 10 new things the group can work on and that students can get behind.

Szewczyk said he and the senate will also immediately address the athletics fee, which passed by a margin of 54.5 percent in favor to 45.5 percent opposed.

Szewczyk said he will prepare for his imminent presidency by meeting with the most senior members of senate and discussing what needs to be done to make the transition in leadership. He said he will formally be sworn in as president on Sunday.

Senior Becky Hadley, Szewczyk's opponent, said that despite the loss her campaign was still a success, and she is glad the athletics fee passed. She is not, however, satisfied with the election results, she said.

"I'm not accepting them right now because there's some ethics violations that I feel should be made public, and I don't feel like all the votes that Matt got should have been awarded to him," Hadley said.

Hadley said multiple ethics-related complaints had been brought against Szewczyk during his campaign, and she is disappointed the senate ethics and justice committee didn't take more action toward them. Otherwise, she is unsure of what she is going to do next, Hadley said.

Szewczyk said although he did not know all of the details about the complaints against him, the senate ethics and justice committee found them unwarranted. Senior Robert Kelchen, who serves the ethics and justice committee, said the cases have already been cleared, although the identities of the complainants are confidential. Before the cases were cleared, the ethics committee levied complaints against both campaigns, Kelchen said.

2,440 students voted in this election, compared to approximately 1,300 last year, and the athletics fee played a large role in voter turnout, junior senate member Brett Pierson said. He also said if this semester's total is not the largest ever in a student government election, than it is at least the most he has seen during his time as senator.

"I think this was something important to many students across campus - athletes as well as non-athletes," he said. "Looking at the totals … a little over a hundred students did not vote for the athletics fee. … I think that was the driving force behind the explosion in numbers."

Students also approved a new constitution for the Student Organization Center Council and reelected 9 senators-at-large plus three senior senators.