Patriot Talon

Kerrie Ambort

Former Student Government Association senators Kerrie Ambort and Amy Whitehouse won the president and vice president seats, respectively, during the April 9-10 elections, and they intend to assume their new SGA leadership roles on May 1, parliamentarian Sam Carrell said. Ambort, who formerly served as senator for Patriot Village and the College of Business and Technology, said her main goal is to increase student involvement.

“I am very honored and excited,” she said. “I can’t wait to dive into this position and try to have a big impact on this University and students.” She said she aims to serve the students, making sure their voices are heard. As part of that, she said she wants to further improve SGA’s communication with students.

Whitehouse, former senator for the College of Business and Technology and the College of Education and Psychology, said she is excited about the new academic year and ecstatic about her VP win.

Whitehouse proposes some type of activity, such as an open forum, where students and faculty can trade concerns. Whitehouse received 109 votes to Jesus Charles’ 66 and Nancy Palencia’s 59.

About 4.3 percent, or 249 students, of the 5,815 member student body voted in the election, Carrell said. Alyssa Dorman won secretary, and Rene Hernandez won the parliamentarian position. Hernandez also won treasurer, which he conceded to runner-up David McAlpin. But officials deemed McAlpin ineligible. McAlpin, who previously served as a senator, started his term late, never completing the prerequisite full term of SGA service, Carrell said.

He said the treasurer position will most likely be decided during a special election at the beginning of the fall semester, or during the regular fall election for freshman and housing senators.

Students elected to senate position are as follows:
Arts and Sciences – Justin Brown, Tiffany Allison, and Nancy Palencia;
Business and Technology – David McAlpin, Thomas Browning, and Scott Good;
Engineering and Computer Sciences –William Cartwright, Amy Winters, and Kasey Buggs;
Nursing and Health Sciences – Aaron Hamrick and Aimee Poirer. One seat remains unoccupied in the nursing contest due to no candidates or write-in votes.

Also, no student relieved write-ins and no one ran for the College of Education and Psychology senate positions, leaving the three seats empty. Carrell said the open senate seats may be chosen in the fall elections, or SGA officials may choose to appoint interested students who meet the requirements. SGA officials advertised the elections with polling locations in the UC and Business Building.

Due to a mix up in the Business Building, student identification card verification machines weren’t set up in time, Carrell said. This forced SGA to cancel elections in the Business Building both days, Carrell said, causing disappointment among some candidates.