By: Ally Horine | Echo
Weeks of intense planning, campaigning and hand shaking have paid off for juniors Kasey Leander and Camila Chiang. The duo has been elected student body president (SBP) and student body vice president (SBVP) for the 2015-16 academic year.
Leander and Chiang received 623 votes, defeating their opponents Darius Farmer and Kaitlin Kinnius, who received 346 votes. Compared to the 717 votes in the 2014-15 election, the turnout was 26 percent higher.
Much of their success can be attributed to their campaigning and the many individuals who helped them. Junior Lizzie Wilson designed their branding, while junior Jen Shepherd and senior Kayleigh Sisson managed their social media.
"All of those who helped were super supportive and gave so much to help our campaign," Chiang said. "We are so thankful for kindness and dedication they've given."
Farmer and Kinnius are confident in Leander and Chiang's abilities in the office.
"We give them our best wishes and think they will do a great job," Kinnius said. "We trust the students of Taylor and think they selected the best candidate for the position."
The team members have been friends since their freshman year at Taylor and have built a great relationship the past three years. "Kasey is a big reason why I decided to run," Chiang said. "He's a real visionary with a passion and a heart for Taylor. I can really see his excitement for making this place even better than it already is. He is one of the few people I would have ever done this with."
The duo feels prepared for these roles after participating in leadership positions such as DA and PA. Leander and Chiang want to make their presidency about connecting with people to see how they, as leaders, can make Taylor better.
"We feel like we could do a good job of bringing different sides of campus together. It does sound really ideological, but (it's) kind of unifying around that best part about Taylor, which is the relationships," Leander said. "As a subset of that, we really do feel like the events we'd plan would flow out of that vision."
While Taylor has many changes in its future, Leander and Chiang want to focus on the present. They seek to bring the campus together and enhance the Taylor experience here and now, rather than focusing on a new union and temporary lack of a chapel.
"With the expansion, we want to make sure that the Taylor experience we all have had during our time here doesn't suffer and that we would grow into that expansion," Chiang said.
Their first task as SBP and SBVP is to establish an executive cabinet for next school year. As they look, they hope to find people who are passionate about the job and about Taylor.
"I think the biggest thing we're looking for are people who are willing to lean in to the Taylor experience and give it 110 percent," Leander said.
Another aspect of their campaign consists of getting the Technology and Learning Center (T&LC) to provide more services, as the ETC used to. While the TL&C does provide services, they are not as expansive as those once offered by the ETC.
Leander and Chiang have much work ahead of them as they begin to prepare for their presidency. But for the moment, they're enjoying victory.
