The winners of the Missouri Southern Student Senate executive board elections were released Wednesday evening in the Billingsly Student Center’s third-floor conference room during the Senates final official session of the year. The winners of the elections, which took place April 25-26, will be the leaders of the new 2016-2017 Senate when they begin their new session in the fall. 

Former Senator Amanda Gardner will assume the responsibility of Student Senate President, taking over for current President and graduating senior, Kyle Prisock. Gardner beat out current Senator Jacob Layne, sophomore political science major, to claim the presidency. 

According to Prisock, everybody that campaigned did a fantastic job. 

He attributes the success of the election to the high student turnout, the level of involvement they had, and the questions they asked. Prisock also praised the effort and time the candidates put forth. 

“Each of them want to represent the student body the best way they can,” he said. “I think they’ll be able to carry on some of the things we’ve established and hopefully surpass it. We’ve put a foundation in place for them, so they don’t have to start from zero like every other Senate has. They have a blueprint to go off so they can hit the ground running.” 

Kyle Deese, junior geography major, was elected Student Senate Vice President as a write-in candidate. Elsewhere, current Senators Greg Reynaga, senior biology major, was elected Treasurer while Colby Smith, senior, biology/premed major, was named Secretary. 

“I was very happy to find out that I won,” said Smith. “I always want to give back to the school in any way I can and help other students; I’ll be able to do that as Secretary.”

Reynaga, who has run his own construction company since the age of 17, feels his experience will help him in his new position as Treasurer. 

“As a businessman, I’m already a treasurer,” he said. “I’m also the treasurer for other organizations, so I feel like it’s a good fit, it comes naturally to me.”

Departing Vice President Danielle Campbell was happy to see the new faces elected.

“I have full confidence in whom the students selected, and I’m excited to see what they do and what their ideas are,” she said. “It ‘s nice to have new minds come in with fresh ideas that we may not have seen because were so immersed in our positions; it’s really exciting to see.”