After a week-long campaign for the Undergraduate Student Government (USG) Presidential and Vice Presidential seats, Hayden Johnson and Natalie Casey won their respective seats in the election against Alisa Brown and Marin Klostermeier—around 1,800 students voted in the election, according to Carl Johnson, USG advisor.
Johnson and Casey were excited to have won the elections and commended Brown and Klostermeier for a well-run campaign.
“We are so humbled that we were given this position by the student body,” said Casey. “We’re so excited that people trust us to lead and direct them and kind of be the face of the student body. Also, thank you to Alisa and Marin, that’s something we definitely want to say. We hope they stay involved.”
Brown and Klostermeier reciprocated Casey’s comments in a joint Facebook status update published on Friday, April 25 shortly after election results had been announced.
“[Friday] we did not win in our bid to become President and Vice President of USG, but that does not mean we will stop fighting for change on this campus … We believe in a future for DU that includes the voices of students who have been sidelined in the past … We would like to congratulate Natalie and Hayden on their success; we look forward to working with you to fulfill our shared dream of a better DU.”
Carl Johnson also commended the two groups of candidates for their work during the campaigning week and wishes to see involvement from both Johnson and Casey and Brown and Klostermeier.
“I think that Hayden and Natalie, and Alisa and Marin ran a nice, smooth and respectful campaign,” said Johnson. “I think they were both good candidates and managed the week well. It’s an exciting time especially with the new chancellor coming on board; it’s good to see a strong student government who can work with them and balance that out.”
Under their administration, which will begin in mid-May, Johnson and Casey will seek to advocate for a variety of initiatives, including a monthly USG feedback survey, pushing for a student liaison position on the Board of Trustees and helping to develop the renovation plans for the Driscoll Student Center started by Junior Senator Adam Hammerman, who will not return to the Senate next school year.
The candidates participated in a debate on Wednesday, April 23. About 100 students attended the debate, which was held in Davis Auditorium.
For more on the USG election results or with questions regarding USG, students and alumni can be directed to Carl Johnson at cdjohnso@du.edu.
