Sarah Haley was the obvious choice for the election commissioner position. In fact, she was the only choice. Even after the application deadline was extended by two weeks, Haley was the only applicant for the position, which she was announced as winning at Thursday’s Student Governing Association meeting. Haley’s colleagues said that did not diminish the confidence they had in her as she was sworn in Thursday.
“The thing about the electoral commissioner is that you need to be someone who can get students excited about voting and who cares about voting enough that they’re willing to remove themselves from supporting a particular candidate,” said Hope Faflick, senior in political science and Student Senator for Arts and Sciences, who said she has known Haley for four years.
“Sarah is so driven about SGA and so passionate about students and student government at K-State that she’ll do a good job,” Faflick said.
Haley said she wants to break down some of the barriers between the SGA and the K-State student body.
“What I really want to do with this position is extend it to people who haven’t had that much experience in SGA,” Haley said. “I want … to have a diverse body in this room.”
Haley added that she plans to work with other student organizations to connect with new students.
“I feel people need to come (to SGA meetings) more, because there’s so much that goes on here but I think (SGA) is kind of distant,” Haley said.
Haley said that even when students have an interest in SGA, many do not know how to become part of it.
“They’re not sure how to be a part of it so my goal is to bridge that gap,” Haley said. “What we do here is so impactful to them.”
Additionally, Haley said she wants students to know they can apply for funding through the Student Governing Association.
“If they’re aware of what they can gain from (SGA) I think … they’ll get connected,” Haley said.
Finally, Haley said she plans to simplify the SGA application process “so it’s not some complex thing” but something everyone can understand.
“I’m really excited … but there’s always room for improvement,” Haley said.
In addition to swearing Haley in, the SGA voted to allocate funds to K-State’s Model UN, which will help send 34 member students to an international Model UN conference.
According to Michael Emley, junior in accounting, attending the conference will not only be beneficial for the students involved but help improve K-State’s image on national collegiate levels.
“They asked for $1,000 and we recommended $1,000,” Emley said.
SGA is supporting the National Art Education Association with an allocation of $700. The money will allow seven members to attend a national convention in New Orleans from March 25-29 in 2015.
The association originally requested $1,000 for their travel, but since only seven members and not the original ten will be attending the convention, the SGA is recommending $700.
“We did three things tonight,” Jordan Korb, SGA secretary and sophomore in business administration, said. “We got a new election commissioner, we gave money to Model United Nations and we gave money to the National Art Education.“
