As Kelsey Keny learned she had just become the next Student Government Association president, she was sunburned and exhausted.
That night, she’d still have to clean her room and slog through some economics homework. But as she hugged her fellow campaign mate and future vice president Connor Dugosh, that fatigue didn’t seem to matter.
“I haven’t quite found a word of how I feel right now,” she said. “… I am so excited to get to help students and serve the student body in this way.”
After a long week of campaigning (read: distributing homemade cookies) on Pedestrian, Keny and Dugosh reeled in 47.2 and 49.03 percent of the vote, respectively.
“I don’t think I was expecting that number, but I’ll take it,” Dugosh said.
That statistic is tempered by SGA’s lowest voter turnout in the last decade.
Despite low participation, We Are UT placed 40 campaign members into office, a number comprised of 39 senators and Katelyn Hadder, next year’s student services director.
“I’m obviously really excited to get in there and start working hard and start proving myself,” Hadder said, “But I’m also sad for my fellow candidates.”
Yet, We Are UT presidential candidate Carly Frensley maintained that she was “happy” nonetheless.
“The way I see it is, we won,” she said. “We got the most people into SGA, and our whole purpose is to represent the student body and make sure the students’ voices are heard.”
As for Grant Davis, the winning Board of Trustees representative, he must still receive confirmation from Gov. Bill Haslam before formally assuming his position.
But for now, Davis is content with his nomination.
“I think my experience showed through,” he said. “After having really worked hard for the student body this year, I’m just glad that someone was listening.”
Elsewhere, the [Insert] campaign found their numbers less thrilling. No member of [Insert] won a spot in next year’s SGA, although presidential candidate “Stone Cold” Quinn Cowan admitted the loss wasn’t “terribly” surprising.
Still, Cowan insisted his campaign had achieved its primary goal: pointing out “the blatant flaws with the popularity contest that is SGA.”
“I’ll be back,” Cowan finished.
Starting at 4 p.m. today, all evidence of Election Week will be erased from campus – every sign, poster and tent will disappear in the mandatory Campus Cleanup.
But Keny-Dugosh’s impact is here to stay.
“It was good to know that people believed in us … (and) that something stuck with people and they said they wanted us to serve in these two roles,” Keny said. “It’s really humbling to know they heard that and said, ‘I want to check Keny-Dugosh.'”
VOTING RESULTS:
Total voters in 2014: 3,686
Total voters in 2013: 4,887
President:
Kelsey Keny (Keny-Dugosh) – 1,679 votes; 47.2 percent
Carly Frensley (We Are UT) – 1,206 votes; 33.9 percent
“Stone Cold” Quinn COwan ([Insert]) – 587 votes; 16.5 percent
Write-ins – 85 votes; 2.38 percent
Vice President:
Connor Dugosh (Keny-Dugosh) – 1735 votes; 49.03 percent
Jack Johnson (We Are UT) – 1221 votes; 34.51 percent
Ryan “Nighthawk” Whitener ([Insert]) – 536 votes; 15.14 percent
Write-ins – 46 votes; 1.3 percent
Student Services Director:
Katelyn Hadder (We Are UT) – 2168 votes; 64.1 percent
Kyle “Ice Blood” White ([Insert]) – 977 votes; 28.88 percent
Write-ins – 237 votes; 7 percent
Board of Turstees Representative:
Grant Davis (Davis for Trustee) – 1535 votes; 43.32 percent
R.J. Duncan (We Are UT) – 1352 votes; 37.39 percent
Matt Riley (Independent) – 580 votes; 16.37 percent
Write-in – 103 votes; 2.9 percent
Source: SGA Election Comission
Carly Frensley, of the We Are UT campaign, stands by as Katelyn Hadder, right, who was elected as SGA's student services director, reads off the results of the campaign at Tin Roof on Thursday.
