For the past year, I’ve had the privilege of serving as president of the Government of the Student Body. Tonight marks the end of my time in office. That’s bittersweet, because I’m admittedly sad to step aside, but I’m also extraordinarily proud of our accomplishments over the past year. An excellent group of students have volunteered their time and energy to serve students and improve the student experience. Here’s a snapshot of what we’ve accomplished.

Working together, we changed our structure so that top executives, myself included, would no longer receive excessive compensation at the expense of students, making more money available for student organizations. We established a broad base of campus-wide partners to create the foundation for a bike share system at Iowa State, a program that is one-of-a-kind in the world as our own students are designing and developing it from the ground up. We reached a new agreement with the Division of Student Affairs to expand the financial counseling services on our campus. When student loan interest rates were threatening to balloon last summer, we were there to facilitate a cooperative effort among nearly 20 student governments across Iowa to lobby congressional representatives on behalf of students. Each of these will have real, lasting impacts on our campus and your future.

We also made an effort to focus on groups of students that GSB has typically not involved at an appropriate level. Our first-ever Diversity Resource Fair and “Conversations on Diversity” column in the Iowa State Daily provided opportunities for students to learn about their classmates with different backgrounds. At the same time, a new committee for non-traditional students was established, laying the groundwork for progress on issues of particular importance to this oft-overlooked group. We’ve worked to promote diversity in all of its forms.

I could go on and on about the accomplishments of the past year, but I would have even more to say about the plans in place for coming years. That’s what is so exciting for me — the idea that this improvement of the student experience will only continue to ramp up. Hillary Kletscher, the next president of GSB, has an outstanding vision and a fantastic group of students with whom to work. Don’t hesitate for a moment to reach out to her, or other GSB leaders, and get involved. I encourage you to be a part of this lasting legacy of service and campus improvement.

So, as one of my last official acts in office, I simply wanted to say thank you to the student body. Thank you for believing in me as I represented you to university administration, local government, state officials and federal representatives. Thank you for challenging me and demanding a level of excellence to which GSB must be held. Thank you for your understanding when the difficult decisions needed to be made. And thank you for creating the unique Iowa State culture that makes it so easy for me to serve and so hard for me to leave. Truly, thank you.