Juniors Mike Schutte and Katrina Yoshida were officially named next year’s student body president and vice president at the announcement of the Undergraduate Student Government (USG) election results held last night in the Student Life Office at 6 p.m.
Schutte and Yoshida did not face opposition.
“I am thrilled for Mike and Katrina to step into the role of directing USG next year. I am convinced it will be another major year for the university, and so to have their strong leadership helping to guide the student body will be great for the school,” said incumbent USG President Sam Estenson.
This year’s election process was shortened to four days from one week, as well as moved forward by a week to allow more time for new senators to transition into their roles, according to Schutte.
Senate Affairs Committee chair Jackie Faust said there was strong turnout in student voting, though no official numbers are known at this time.
“I would say we had a greater than 50 percent voting rate because we were able to reach all areas on campus,” said Faust.
However, voting was extended by four days, from last Thursday to yesterday at 4 p.m., after technical difficulties prevented some students from receiving their ballot emails.
“There is no exact number of people who received and didn’t receive the ballot. They were completely random which made finding the problem so intense and difficult to solve,” Faust said. She said some people received no ballots, while others received ballots for only a few positions.
“After a few days the problem was resolved thanks to UTS and they were able to confirm that all ballots were out when Friday morning hit.” she said.
Schutte said he and Yoshida will begin reviewing student input on issues they would like USG to address in the coming year which they gathered while tabling on the Driscoll Bridge throughout the past week.
“We are going to see where wants can be taken care of and see where our main focus can be next year,” said Schutte.
Schutte and Yoshida published a platform for their term online last Monday when campaigning began. Listed on the team’s website, dubrickbybrick.com, Schutte and Yoshida’s platform initiatives include “creating a community council of student leaders,” “more representation of international students” and “increasing green space and recreational amenities.”
Schutte said they will also focus on issues which have been brought to their attention through student outreach, including problems with the campus internet connection and re-instituting the campus shuttle.
Schutte has also addressed the debate currently surrounding the unofficial campus mascot, Boone.

In a February resolution, USG banned use of student activity funding to support the visage of the Denver Boone on campus and created a task force committee to replace Boone with another mascot.  A committee is currently in the process of identifying the new mascot.
“I am excited to move forward with the mascot,” said Schutte. “It is going to take a lot of effort to get the momentum going. We need to realize the mascot is a big part of our image and also a small part. It does not change what it means to be a Pioneer.”
Other students voted into USG senators are: Senior Senators Erik Meek and Bri Akakpo, Junior Senators Adam Hammerman and Shelby Lee, Sophmore Senators Jess Davidson and Logan Bohlender, DCB Senators Josh Todtfeld and Melissa Sim, NSME Senator Daniel Powell, AHUM Senator Josh Wehe, SOCS Senator Ashlee Shaw-Gonzales, HRTM Senator Alejandro Garcia, INTS Senator Aly Higgins, Performing Arts Senator Laurence Moran, On-Campus Senators Jeffery Mariano and Kaitlyn Griffith and Off-Campus Senators Parya Mahmoudi and Daniel Mason.
Schutte said he also wants to increase relations between students and USG senators to make USG “more accessible” to students and encouraging more communication between students and senators.
“USG gets a lot of grief for being closed up,” said Schutte. “I think it is about motivating students to use us as an outlet, and that has to come from both sides.”
Newly elected senators will begin the transition into their roles next week and will begin to attend senate meetings. The current USG will continue to preside until the end of the academic year.