On April 24 at about 2 p.m., Cam Hickert and Jess Davidson were announced as the USG President and Vice President for the 2015-2016 school year.

All of the Undergraduate Student Government (USG) presidential candidates campaigned from April 19 to April 24. Additionally, the candidates gathered in the Driscoll Ballroom for a debate on April 22. Roughly 70 people showed up for the interactive debate, which lasted about an hour. Attendees were given paper to write their own questions throughout the debate for the candidates. They were also encouraged to tap on their chair to show support ideas presented by the candidates.

Topics covered during the debate included, what is working and what is not working in USG, sexual assault awareness, inclusive excellence at DU, what the candidates would bring to the table in terms of experience, how the candidates would fulfill their promises and to wrap it all up, each candidate was asked what song was stuck in their head at the time.

After the long week, Hickert and Davidson are thrilled about being elected.

“I could not be more excited right now,” said Davidson in a message sent to The Clarion. “I first asked Cam about the idea of running together almost a year ago, and then it seemed like such a distant and even far-fetched idea to us both. This election was incredible and something I will never forget,”

Both Hickert and Davidson were also pleased with the overall experience this election offered.

“We ran against some of the best that DU has to offer and having been part of such a competitive, fun race made this week far more memorable and pushed us to work harder,” said Hickert and Davidson in another message. “Nick, Osa, Cam, Tara, Carter and Mansfield are all amazing and I feel so lucky to have run against them. For us personally, this week was a really great way to meet tons of new Pioneers and hear what a lot of people are hoping to see next year.”

While now is a time for celebration, the two elects hope to utilize the remainder of this year to learn as much as possible from the current senate so they can start their hard work on the right foot next year.

“Our first priority is to soak up as much knowledge as we can from this year’s Senate, and after each meeting, be comparing our action items for the year with what we’re learning from them,” said Hickert and Davidson in their message. “The USG transitions period is a really valuable one that sets the tone for the upcoming year and we plan to give it undivided attention. Because restructuring USG was one of our main goals, that will be in the forefront of our work this Spring. We’ll also be meeting with athletics and other facets of administration to get timelines on what we need to be doing to accomplish our goals for next year.”

Hickert and Davidson have many plans to ensure they can easily be contacted by the student body throughout this transition, and in the future.

“We would first and foremost like every Pioneer to know that they can contact us at any time. We will make our contact information public, and you can always find us on Facebook as well, or just say hi if you see us on campus,” said Hickert and Davidson in their message. “We plan to be as accessible as possible, and next year we will be starting a tradition called ‘Coffee with Cam and Jess’ where students can join us for a cup of coffee to talk about what they want to see from USG. We hope to have a few sessions of that this spring so we can work with that information over the summer. Please reach out to us at any time. We would love to hear from you about how we can better DU.”

“Our partnership is one based out of years of trust and friendship, and we plan to run this next year like a true team,” said Hickert and Davidson in their message. “We both take our responsibility for next year extremely seriously, and are dedicated to doing right by the Pioneers who elected us. Thank you for entrusting us with this leadership for next year. We look forward to working with you all!”

There were also 19 students elected as senators for the upcoming school year.

Sophomore Senators: Julia Arnett and Margaret (Margaux) Bole

Junior Senators: Tess Greenwald and Rory Moore

Senior Senators: Jack Arrix and Nicolette Smith

AHUM Senator: Tim Longfield

Daniels Senators: Mitch Ritz and Cory Hott

Hospitality Management Senator: Re’ahna Ray

International Studies Senator: Aaron Hinds

Natural Science and Math Senator: Kaela Martins

Performing Arts Senator: Scott Ullman

Engineering and Computer Science Senator: Hannah Bettinger

Social Sciences Senator: Jillian Martinez

On-Campus Senators: Eli Friedland and Alejandro Garcia

Off-Campus Senators: Zane Sanchez and Julia Richards

More information about USG can be found on their website.