Leslie Hamilton
Although the “new year” does not necessarily follow the academic calendar - which in my opinion makes no sense, but I understand the historical implications and such - a new year brings a whole lot of new, such as a electing a new Student Body President for the S&T campus. The voting period will open on March 5th and close on March 9th. Students can ‘exercise their right to vote,’ so to speak, on Orgsync or by physically going to Havener to fill out a ballot during this time.
This year, it appears that there is only one student body president candidate. This year’s candidate is Madison Moore. Madison Moore, hailing from Cape Girardeau, Missouri, is a junior majoring in Architectural Engineering. She is on a four year track and plans to graduate in May of 2019. During her 2.5 years at S&T, she has been an active member in Student Union Board (SUB), Student Council, Student Leadership Conference, and Swim Club, where she was named Rookie of the Year.
Madison Moore joined Student Council in 2016, holding a position as the Student Services Chair, where she ensured the quality of student services for two years. Moreover, she has also had a hand in several campus projects, such as renegotiating dining services and bringing a Chick-Fil-A to S&T. Moore also played an important role in the fitness center expansion with the student’s pocketbooks in mind, ensuring that the student body would not pay more in student fees to use the fitness center while also ensuring that the facility is of quality and fits our needs. Her involvement with such projects has allowed her to establish strong relationships with administrators, faculty and staff members, giving her a leg up on potentially achieving her goals as the Student Body President candidate.
Prior to the polls opening, there was a Q&A session in Havener’s Ozark room with Madison Moore on Tuesday, February 27th from 5:30 to 6:30 PM in order to promote transparency and intent, and thus informed voting, encouraging youths to make a habit of doing so. During this time, students and faculty had the chance to get to know the candidate and learn more about her goals for her more or less guaranteed presidency (somewhat confirmed by the accidental email identifying her as President-elect) and how she hopes to achieve them. Should you have questions for Madison and/or were not able to attend this Q&A, she has provided her email (mgmvy4@mst.edu) as a means to create a line of open communication to hear your questions and concerns. Moreover, if you still have not looked at her candidate flier, she hopes to finish the fitness center expansion; to create a dead week for the week of the career fair, ensuring that there would be no quizzes, exams, and/or term papers due; and to improve the mental health of the student body via policy implementation, mental health initiatives and additional student resources.
Seeing that Madison Moore is running unopposed, it is relatively unlikely that she will not become the next Student Body President. Reminder that this is technically still hypothetical until the voting polls close on March 9th. Moore’s ‘term’ will follow the academic calendar with respect to what is identified as an academic year (Fall 2018 to Spring 2019). Take the time to vote habitually and express your concerns and needs as a student at S&T. Best of luck to Madison Moore!
