USAO’s Student Government Association (SGA) hosted its first annual Election Night on September 22nd. Students could come and vote for their senators in person, enjoy Chick-fil-a, play bingo, get to know their candidates, and have a fun time with their fellow students.

“Election night was designed so we could get excited about voting in our senate elections,” SGA President, Chelsea Fuston, said. “In-person voting proved very successful last year, and we wanted to continue that momentum this year.”

The evening opened with Chick-fila-a being served and in-person voting and then moved into bingo for prizes while the SGA executive board tallied up the votes. Several rounds of bingo were played, prizes were distributed, and then the winners of the election were announced.

Jessee Clark, the new Education and SLP senator, said the event was a great time for her to connect with her fellow students. “I played bingo and had a great time,” she said.

Election Night was a fun way for students to get to know each other and their senators better. President Chelsea Fuston said she thought the event accomplished just that.

“I did not anticipate that many people coming,” she said. “It was lovely to see so many people there. Not many people come to on-campus events, so it really made my heart happy.”

This year, there was record voter turnout on campus. Last year, 67 people voted but this year 190 people voted, a substantially larger amount than in 2021. The SGA hopes this means more people will get involved on campus and use their power to make a change.

There were also no elections that were won by an extremely large margin, according to Fuston. Humanities and IDS Ward, Harry Cracknell, ran unopposed, but every other election was won by very narrow margins.

The new senators were sworn in on Thursday, September 28th. Fuston urges members of the student body to come to SGA meetings, which are held every Thursday at 11 a.m. in Davis 224. The meetings are open to anybody who wishes to attend.

The results from the SGA election are included below.

Executive Board

President: Chelsea Fuston                                          Vice President: Halli Humphrey

Secretary: Daniel Buster                                            Treasurer: Chandler Leamon-Webb

Parliamentarian: Bret O’zee

Senate

Senior Wards: Kalep Glandon & Kati Robbins

Junior Wards: Brooke Stephens & Isabellah Willoughby

Sophomore Wards: Savannah Alldredge & Luke Cantrell

 Freshman Ward: Natasha Fryhover & Ryan Moses

Business and Social Science Ward: Christian Bagy

Education and Speech-language Pathology Ward: Jessee Clark

Humanities and IDS Ward: Harry Cracknell

Science and Physical Education Ward:Carson Trammell

Visual and Performing Arts Ward: Bea Tezen

Off-campus/Commuter Ward: James Brown

Hannah Dudleson is a second-year English Education major from the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma