Current Student Government President Grayson Bacarella speaking with the prior year's president, Jessica Ryder
Grayson Bacarella won the election for president of the student government this year.
Along with Bacarella the rest of this year’s Student Government council was decided at the meeting on Sept. 27.
Joel Spotts is the vice president, Clayton Blackwell is the secretary, Javed Peracha is the treasurer, Aidan Higgins is the liason, and Emily Cornett is the historian.
There was a heated race this year for the position of Student Government president, and each of the candidates strongly believed they were the best fit for this job.
This is Bacarella’s second year in the student government, after being an active participant in the year prior.
Bacarella hopes to use his experiences in Student Government to better his time as president.
“I think the skills I have learned, I would be the president this group deserves,” Bacarella said.
Bacarella said that he thought the office of president would lead to personal betterment. He said that he hoped the position would allow him to develop the skills he learned last year.
As for his biggest flaw, Bacarella said he worked too hard.
“I tend to overclock myself and put too much on my plate,” he said.
After winning the election, Bacarella said that running for this position was not a spur of the moment decision.
“I’m very excited, I’ve been interested in this position for a pretty long time, for a couple months now,” he said. “I’ve been talking a lot about it with fellow student government members, so I just ran and it worked out.”
Bacarella also has the advantage of being good friends with this year’s vice president, Spotts.
“Me and Joel are in contact a lot, we see each other a lot, so we can bounce off ideas and keep track with what’s going on with each other.” Bacarella said. “And I think that does, in a way, keeps us on track.”
In Spotts’ bid for the position during the meeting, he said that he and Grayson would be an incredible team.
“I’ve known Grayson about six years and been best friends with him for most of that. Me and Grayson work very well apart, but we’re even better together. I think if you put us together we will have a president vice president team that will beat everyone for years,” Spotts said.
Grayson and Spotts weren’t the only standouts this election, Peracha the treasurer this year, is an international student. Peracha said he came from Pakistan to America last year.
His reason for running? He said he ran because wanted the opportunity to get involved and learn about this country and its people.
“I don’t know where I will be living in four or five years, so I want to make as many friends as possible. I want to learn about the American culture, American values, and everything,” Peracha said. “I want to make friends and memories and help this community the best I can.”
