On Tuesday, Feb. 4, the Undergraduate Student Government (USG) elected junior Hayden Johnson to fill the vacant Off-Campus Senator position after previous Senator Daniel Mason stepped down for personal reasons. Johnson will now serve alongside fellow Off-Campus Senator Parya Mahmoudi for the remainder of the academic year.
After Mason’s departure, Senate Affairs Committee Chair and Senior Senator Erik Meek held a meeting for prospective candidates to apply for the position. At the next USG meeting, elections were held during a closed session. Junior Tiffany Wilk and Senior Tri Nguyen also campaigned, but ultimately Johnson was chosen during final voting by USG members.
Johnson has previous experience in USG, having served as a senator and co-chair of the Finance Committee, as well as assuming leadership in the committee in the latter parts of the previous academic year. Johnson did not return to USG in the fall, due to the fact that he was studying abroad in Greece. Johnson stated after the election he will make it a primary goal to help DU students living off campus and returning from abroad more involved with campus activities.
In addition, Johnson looks to become heavily involved with the Evans Avenue crosswalk safety initiative currently headed by Mahmoudi and USG President Mike Schutte.
“I think it’s really important to feel safe [crossing Evans],” said Johnson. “I also think it’s the university’s responsibility to listen to the calls of the students to increase safety for pedestrians and cyclists around campus.”
Daniels College of Business Senator Josh Todtfeld commented that, while Wilk and Nguyen were very qualified candidates, he felt Johnson to be the best decision based on his past experience in student government at DU.
“I felt Johnson would be a good senator mainly because of his past experience and because of his accomplishments from last year,” said Todtfeld. “It made me confident to know that he had completed projects and helped the finance committee last year. He also ended that year starting projects, and now wants to come back and finish those projects.”
USG Vice President Katrina Yoshida echoed Todtfeld’s statements, and also praised Wilk and Nguyen for running for the position. She also believes that Johnson’s desire to pursue the Evans Avenue safety initiative will be helpful for the remainder of this academic year.
Johnson encourages any off-campus students to contact him at HaydenJohnson2015@gmail.com should they have questions, comments or proposals in the future.
