Triumphant cheers drowned out the Wildcat 91.9 radio announcement of the Student Governing Association general elections after Nate Spriggs and Grant Hill were announced as the 2012-2013 SGA president and vice president. The duo received 2,274 votes, which accounted for 71 percent of the total.
“I’m speechless,” Hill said. “We could not have done this without the support of our campaign team, from chalking to manning the booth.”
Spriggs, senior in agricultural economics, and Hill, junior in accounting, embraced following the announcement. After the cheers died down, they addressed supporters who were gathered at the watch party that took place at Johnny Kaw’s Sports Bar in Aggieville.
“It’s good to know that what we’re doing is working. We won’t let it slow down,” Spriggs said. “We will continue to reach out to students. That is the most important thing for us.”
Spriggs, who served as the 2011-2012 SGA president, said he is excited to continue the progress he and his team have made this year.
“From my experience, I have worked with hundreds of students, helping students start organizations or revamp organizations. I’ve been learning more and more,” Spriggs said. “Having the connections and understandings, I am better able to gauge students’ desires. Having had these past experiences, I can better provide that.”
As the new president and vice president, both Spriggs and Hill insisted that they would not waste time starting their new term.
“We have a lot of work to do. With Nate’s past experience, we are just going to hit the ground running,” Hill said.
Before the results were announced, co-campaign managers Kaitlin Long, sophomore in entrepreneurship, and Ellen Bergkamp, sophomore in agricultural economics, said they felt nervous knowing it was the end of months of work campaigning.
“I’m nervous, but I’m really excited to see how it turns out,” Bergkamp said. “It’s been a long, enjoyable, and educational road. But it’s shown how great of a campus K-State is.”
Long said her decision to support Spriggs and Hill was easy.
“When Nate talked to me in November about running again, I thought he was crazy to do it again,” Long said. “He told me a story about how he’d just been in the office until 2 a.m. working on stuff, but then he talked to me about how much he loved the job and how he had these relationships with administrators and students. He was really passionate about it. It was an easy decision.”
During last week’s primary election, Spriggs and Hill received just under 62 percent of the votes, and were determined to keep their lead.
“It was a great place to be, but we knew that there were another 1,000 or so votes that would come in for this election,” Hill said. “As soon as the results came out, we knew we still had much to do. We chalked and kept talking to people.”
Spriggs said he is optimistic of the term that lies ahead of him.
“I’m excited to be working with Grant,” Spriggs said. “We are excited for the year ahead. We’ve enjoyed it so far, and we look forward to serving students this next year.”