Student and community leaders came together to witness the inauguration of the new Student Body President and Vice President.

The celebration, held over dinner at the Iowa State Alumni Center, featured former president and vice president Cody West and Cody Smith and new president and vice president Julian Neely and Juan Bibiloni. The purpose of the event was to say a final farewell to the parting leaders, as well as transfer the responsibilities and powers to the new leadership.

As attendees finished eating, President Cody Smith began talking about his thankfulness and gratitude in serving for the last year.

“I have had the great joy of serving over 36,000 students at Iowa State,” West Said.

As West finished his remarks he handed it off to Cody Smith.

Smith outlined the successes of their tenure, mainly “restoring tradition” and made sure everyone knew that their accomplishments would only be expanded on. More specifically, Smith said that the steps they had taken to ensure students voices would be heard on issues of housing would be continued under Julian and Juan.

Smith parted by giving Neely a signed copy of “Robert’s Rules of Order,” the basic rules governing bodies use in committees and meetings, that he had since the 7th grade. While this was seen as light hearted and funny by much of the room, the gesture was very much heartfelt.

Bibiloni was sworn in and quickly delved into his vision for the future of Iowa State under his and Neely’s leadership.

“One of the greatest qualities Iowa State has is the leadership in numbers, and it is needed now more than ever,” Bibiloni said. “Before I decided to run for this decision I knew this to be true. I remember arriving at Iowa State and being bombarded with so many opportunities to get involved. From residence hall leadership, endless emails to club fest events. There are thousands of leaders from all walks of life, and we are looking to get more students involved in this.”

Bibiloni later outlined some other “bold” plans that he and Neely were excited to follow through on. One plan was the march for education, where they hope to alleviate the “attacks” against the university every year by the state.

On top of his plan for Iowa State, Bibiloni stressed his thankfulness for his family, friends and the many opportunities life on campus has given to him.

“All of you here: student leaders, administrators, all of you, are committed to ensuring that being a Cyclone isn’t a question of where someone studies, but rather it is about taking pride in our university and celebrating the unique, diverse and incredible opportunities we receive here,” Bibiloni said. 

Neely finished the event off with his swearing in and subsequent speech.

Julian started his speech thanking many people who influenced him and got him to this position today. He especially focused his thanks on his parents and little brother.

His little brother, Neely said, has been his greatest influence. When Neely was in high school he took on leadership positions to try and shape his high school to make his brothers experience better, and that is one of his driving influences to change Iowa State now.

Neely’s plans for Iowa State centered around building community and expanding on the growth in diversity and leadership made in previous years.

“To do this we have to recognize our differences; the different challenges each one of us face, the different conflicts, we have to resolve them,” Neely said.

As Neely finished his comments and the event came to a close, Cody Smith looked down at his presidential lapel magnet and said, “I guess I will be taking this off now.”