After the recent elections, the Government of the Student Body has traded in its current title for a shorter one: Student Government.

Many in the GSB are hoping the name change, which will officially happen on April 6, will help the organization better reach out to the students at Iowa State.

Of the 32,794 ISU students, 4,135 voted in this year’s executive elections. That equates to 12.8 percent of the total student body.

Newly-elected president Dan Breitbarth and vice-president Megan Sweere earned 2,754 student votes. Amanda Loomis and Kathryn Leidahl, the runners-up, earned 1,328 votes.

The 12.8 percent voter turn-out was a 4.8 percent increase from last year, which reached a total of 8 percent.

To those in the GSB, the increase was cause for celebration.

Alex Rodgers, election commissioner, said he was happy with the improvement.

“It was at 8 to 10 percent [last year],” Rodgers said. “To see it at almost 13 percent I think says a lot to both how the election commission and [public relations] handled things, and the campaigns did a tremendous job.”

Rodgers said he also saw room for improvement for next year’s election.

Many in the GSB believe the name-change could be the opportunity for students to become more involved in student government.

Caitlin Deaver, director of visual media, said this would help improve the students’ perception of the organization.

“We’re trying to do fun stuff to get students engaged,” Deaver said. “My biggest goal is to make the GSB more approachable and more personable.”

The committee hopes this will help students better connect to their governing body.

“We’re here to serve the students,” Deaver said. “We have the same student problems that they do. I think it’s easy for students to connect with that, so they feel comfortable coming forward with their problems.”

Marshall Dolch, director of communications, said he has found the name “Student Government” is better for students to relate to.

The public relations committee of the GSB is working on ways to get the name-change to the students in the best possible way.

Deaver is partnering with Dolch and Loomis, director of special events, to spearhead the project to transition the rebrand of the organization.

Dolch said they plan to move forward and are working on the best way to do so.

Some ideas the committee had were ways to better reach out to students, improving “meet your government” day and more posters around campus. They also hope to brand products students use every day, such as water bottles and pizza cutters.

Dolch said they are working to make the rebrand more visually appealing to students.

Deaver said they also plan to reach out to incoming freshmen at Destination Iowa State to make the switch easier.

The transition to the new name will take some time to stick, but the team is laying the foundations for the project for the next GSB Public Relations Committee.

“We know it won’t be done in a year,” Deaver said. “It’s going to be a long process. It all starts with us, and then we’re branching out.”