The students of Ottawa University have spoken, and a new student body president has been elected.
With current president Jason Beers stepping down after this semester, Sara Humm will fill the role in the 2010-2011 school year.
Humm, a junior communication major, was appreciative of the support she received and excited to win the election.
“It feels pretty good to know my peers like me enough to elect me to do best for the student body,” she said.
Humm ran against sophomore Jake McMillian, who also ran for president in last year’s election. McMillian said he felt that he learned unexpected outside factors could have worked against him in this defeat.
“You can’t beat free t-shirts, and be prepared for people to irrationally be upset by condoms,” he said.
McMillian said he did not know if he would run for student body president again when election time comes around next year, but he is focusing his attention on improving social conditions amongst the different student populations at OU.
“In the same way as the past three years, I want to create a campus culture next year that’s welcoming, inviting and affirming for other students,” he said. “I want to help students that aren’t athletes and are gay, and that’s what’s important when it comes down to it.”
Throughout both candidates’ campaigns, Humm and McMillian advertised themselves in different ways to capture votes and the attention of OU students.
“It was interesting to say the least,” freshman Michael Matos said. “Sara had cartoons and Jake had the condoms. I felt like the school made the right choice in the end.”
Matos said he liked Humm’s enthusiasm during her speech at the spring convocation ceremony, and that good things are to come.
“It sounded like Sara was real excited to take the thrown from Jason, and it seems like she’s going to do a lot of positive things for the school next year,” he said.
Humm said she does, in fact have a few goals that she would like to establish next year.
“One of the main things is to bridge the gap between Ottawa’s community and Ottawa University,” she said. “I want to get more students out into the community so we can get more support from businesses and build more of a connection.”
She said that she wants to do more community service projects like the smoke alarm blitz that was held on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. She also wants to find a way for students to help clean up in downtown Ottawa, for which she plans to talk to the Main Street Board of Directors.
Humm grew up in Ottawa, and believes her connections with the city and leadership background should serve the OU community well.
“I have a lot of experience with being a leader,” she said. “I’m in my fourth year on the Ottawa City Commission and serving my second year as Mayor Pro-tem. I’m connected well with the city so if I need to call someone and we need to get something done, we can.”