UW-Eau Claire held its election for Student Senate from April 14 through April 16.Students received an email containing a link, directing them to a survey where they could vote for presidential candidates, on-campus senators and off-campus senators. 

Third-year student and Student Health & Wellness Director (SHW) Kaitlyn Hevrin and third-year social studies education student University Activities Commission Director (UAC) Zachary Cardille were on the ballot for president and vice president. There were no opposing candidates. 

Elected with 856 votes, Hevrin and Cardille won 96% of voters. Thirty-three votes, or 4%, went to write-ins. 

Hevrin has been a part of senate for three years. She said she initially joined because she wanted to be in a group of people who were like her.

For her presidency next year, Hevrin said one of her main reasons for running was to advocate for accessibility. Hevrin said she wants students to know that there are more support options than just the Services for Students with Disabilities Office (SSD), but there are other students like them who are thriving in school.

Hevrin said she wants “to focus on” how students can build those connections. 

Vice President-elect Cardille said he has been a part of the senate since his freshman year, was drawn to run after a challenging freshman year. He said joining senate helped him build a community. 

“I think for me, my freshman year, it was pretty tough. Towards the end, I was pretty close to just saying ‘I’m going to drop out.’ I had opportunities for a job, and I kind of said if I don’t get it, I’m dropping out. If I get it, I’m continuing. I got it, and that was the UAC chair,” Cardille said. “My involvement in that and involvement in the Activities, Involvement + Leadership Office has connected me to campus so much more.”

Cardille said he wants to work on building more connections throughout organizations and the campus. 

“One of the things I want to work on is: How can we have students find those connections? Whether it’s academically, clubs, club sports, recreation, Greek life, senate, on-campus job,” Cardille said. “Whatever that is, having students find that community is so important because it’s already a tough four years no matter what.”

Fourth-year geography student and current Student Body President Sam Consiglio said her advice to Hevrin and Cardille is to continue focusing on communication and collaboration. 

“I’ve talked to (Hevrin and Cardille) about this a lot, but one of the cool things about Student Senate is that there’s so much that can happen and get done,” Consiglio said. “There is so much support out there for bettering this campus … Everyone has this vision of creating a campus and a space where students feel welcome, and senate’s just the driving factor behind that.”

Current Vice President Zach Jacobson said his advice to them is to maintain good relationships with the administration. 

“Keep good and consistent relationships with administration,” Jacobson said. “They have dedicated their professional lives to serve at a university and they want to make the student experience as good as possible. They have incredible insight and experience to advise on the best ways to make change and progress on projects.”

Alongside Hevrin and Cardille, there were also 12 students elected as on-campus senators and 17 off-campus senators.

On-campus senators include: Elijah Williams, Piper Campbell, Rosana Fernandez Vila, Isabelle Shepard, Marc-Joel Henry, Shivani Saravanan, Annika Borgnes, Rachel Schlute, Mina Pillsbury, Chanel Berg, Audrey Curtler and Brandon Lee.

Off-campus senators are Nelly Christelle, Tia Beirne, Ella Pellegrino, Kyra Price, James Verville, Victoria Czap, Siena Emerson, Madison Shafman, Ally Etzler, Cole Morehouse, Amelia Tauer, Marissa Mapes, Reagan Jimenez, Evan Frawley, Anthony Liska-Verdu, Will Gager and Quincy Cole.

“Really cool to be a part of that process and hear these great ideas and bouncing off and knowing that in 10-15 years I can be like, ‘I helped to make this a thing,’” Cardille said. “It can be really cool, especially in 20 years when I can look back at Eau Claire and all the fond memories.”

Boggess can be reached at [email protected].