Jordan Tarter, English junior, was elected as Student Government Association president Tuesday.
Tarter campaigned against Randy Gipson-Black, religion/political science junior and current SGA President. Tarter and Gipson-Black participated in a runoff election Tuesday following the initial election between Gipson-Black, Tarter, and Rodney Smith, religion/philosophy junior. Tarter won 306 votes to 240.
“I am a leader that serves,” Tarter said. “I am here to work for the students.”
Tarter said she was overcome with emotion when she heard the news that she had won.
“It was that moment of everything paying off,” she said. “It was an incredibly joyous moment because I’ve wanted to serve the campus in this way for quite some time, so I was definitely very excited.”
Tarter said inauguration will be April 11. She said she is making plans to meet with Gipson-Black to discuss the transition process.
Tarter said she will be spending the next few weeks learning more about her role as SGA president and listening to the student body.
“What this is for me right now is a time to learn,” she said. “I consider myself a fast learner, but I also know that, in order to get things done, you need to just immerse yourself in what’s to come, and I want to be as educated as possible because I want to use my knowledge of the presidency to help this campus.”
Gipson-Black said he enjoyed campaigning against Tarter and Smith. He also said he is confident in her ability to lead the student body.
“She ran a great campaign, and I hope she is excited and ready to serve the student body,” Gipson-Black said.
Tarter’s campaign platform included such topics as representation, student safety, environmental activism, and SGA transparency. She said she encourages students to communicate with her about other issues they want to see addressed or other things they want to see flourish on campus.
Alison Sloan, acting sophomore and public relations representative for Tarter’s campaign, said she also became emotional when she received the news that Tarter had won.
“Jordan and I and the rest of the campaign have been working so hard every day,” Sloan said.
Sloan said Tarter has already started working on establishing her campaign goals.
Some of Tarter’s plans include communicating with facilities to repair the gate outside of Cokesbury Court Apartments and add cameras to increase security. She is also speaking with dining service workers to replace plastic straws with paper straws to cut back on plastic waste.
“It’s so nice to see that she will be the one to execute her own ideas,” Sloan said. “She’s been doing so much and dealing with so much, and I don’t know how she does it, but I’m just really excited to be able to see what she does.”
Some future initiatives include addressing the issue of sound installation in the theater facilities.
Another issue Tarter plans to address is a recent situation involving the missing Student Activities Council movie tickets. She said she plans to take bits of money from other parts of the budget to ensure students will still have Free Movie Nights in the future.
“The year ahead of us will come with a lot of challenges and a lot of victories for every college student here,” Tarter said. “However, I’m here to work for them, and I look forward to being there with them every step of the way.”
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