Idema, Brant and Demirkol elected to SGA executive board
Taylor Idema (middle), Natalie Brant (left) and Mary Demirkol (right) are one of three tickets running for SGA executive positions.
Elections for the 2022-2023 Student Government Association executive board concluded today with the Idema ticket receiving the majority vote. Taylor Idema will serve as the next SGA president alongside Vice President Natalie Brant and Treasurer Mary Demirkol.
"To those who voted for us, thank you so much," Idema said. "Your support means everything to us."
Over 1000 votes were cast in this year's election. The trio is thankful to all who participated.
"It's just really encouraging to see all the civic engagement on our campus, and it's really encouraging to see that students are participating in SGA and seeing that as a priority," Idema said.
Brant said student outreach is one of their top priorities as they take office in the future, and Idema added that she wants SGA to serve as an open channel of communication between students and administration.
The trio has been running their campaign based on three words: accessibility, inclusivity and progress.
"I'm excited about creating a more inclusive environment for both international students and American students," Demirkol said.
They hope to achieve this by creating more on-campus job opportunities for international students. Brant is also currently working on two sustainability projects regarding water conservation and solar paneling.
"I think we have a new way of thinking about (success) that's very inclusive to the people around us, and I think that that kind of success will have more sustainable change over time," Brant said.
In SGA's 102-year history, the presidential and vice-presidential positions have both been held by men 54 times. The 2022-2023 school year will be the ninth time both positions will be held by women.
"A lot of times CMU has been the follower when it comes to like following the lead of other institutions," Idema said. "We want CMU to be on the front line. We want other schools to look at CMU and say, 'yeah, we want to do what they're doing there.'"
The election winners will be sworn into office during a tentative inauguration on April 18th.
