The Student Government is wrapping up their current session and soon, president Cody West and vice president Cody Smith will transition power to Julian Neely and Juan Bibiloni. The ISD Editorial Board would like to highlight the positive changes that have come to campus in the past year as well as offer advice for the new Student Government leaders going forward.

West and Smith ran on a platform that sought to “build community, restore tradition, reinvent residency and maintain purposeful outreach.” We believe they have indeed accomplished much of what they set out to do.

An early success of West and Smith involved easing the leasing gap that students face over the summer. In July of last year, the Student Government announced that the Department of Residence would be offering temporary on-campus housing for students affected by the leasing gap or simply arriving on campus before the official move in dates. The Editorial Board would like to see this continued and expanded as it is needed to keep some students from becoming temporarily homeless as they transition housing.

West and Smith have also focused on increasing the transparency of the Student Government. Although they often lacked significant student participation, the town hall meetings provided the Iowa State community with opportunities to engage with our elected student leaders and the university administration. These are important outlets of information and help drive the dialogue about the issues facing our campus.

The spring concert on April 22 fills another campaign promise by West and Smith. The concert series is an attempt to bring back a spring tradition and celebration for all students to enjoy. An official evaluation regarding the success and challenges of this concert will have to be conducted after the event, however.

Beyond fulfilling campaign promises, West and Smith have advocated across the country on behalf of the Iowa State students. Both have professionally communicated the need for affordable higher education to state and national lawmakers.

The Editorial Board wishes West and Smith the best in their post-graduate careers.