This year’s Government of the Student Body presidential campaign saw a race of passionate candidates looking to be voted the next leaders of our campus. The announcements of official candidates came soon after the start of second semester, but several of those running to lead the student body began their campaign planning long before that. The election results on March 7 found Hillary Kletscher and her running mate, Mike Hoefer, as the next president and vice president of GSB.

It has long been the initiative of GSB to raise awareness on what they do for the student body and why students should be paying attention. Trying to increase the number of student voters for GSB elections has been part of that goal.

For several years, however, voting numbers have been going in the wrong direction. In 2011, 3,186 students voted in the GSB elections. In 2012, 2,688 students voted. In 2013, 2,427 students voted. In other words, a slow spiral in the wrong direction.

This year had a solid turn around in numbers, with a total of 3,078 votes, though even this fell short of the GSB election commission’s goal of 4,500 student votes.

It is difficult to accurately pinpoint the exact reason why students do or do not make the decision to add their voices to who will be making major decisions for the student body. However, both Kletsher and Khayree Fitten, the other presidential candidate, used social media and worked to connect with students at extraordinary levels. 

The two candidates had fully operational websites and Facebook pages. They also created videos and attended numerous student organization events to share their platforms. These efforts worked to further engage the student body to make a connection with the candidates, and they seemed to have paid off in voting numbers.

The next challenge for GSB and for the next election commissioner is to keep increasing student awareness, particularly during elections. A steady upward momentum is just what is needed to help further gain traction in student support and added opinion in student policy decisions.

One of the easiest things that can be done to keep attention is to have the election results given at a better time for student schedules. This year, unlike previous years, the results were given at 7 p.m. March 7, a Friday. In past years, the results have come on a Thursday night. The announcement had a good amount of people attend — the event even needed additional chairs to seat those who attended. However, a large portion of the student body had begun its weekend plans, whether that meant hitting the bars, catching a movie or heading for home. It was a win, though, that the results came before students headed for Spring Break, which has been a problem in the past.

All in all, it was a solid election season for GSB, one that will hopefully continue to grow and set a precedent for elections in the future. Finding new ways to draw students in, most notably the ones who have never taken an interest before, will be the biggest challenge.