SMSU Student Association election results announced

The Southwest Minnesota State University Student Association recently held the election for the 2024-2025 academic year. The turnout was an incredible display of student engagement with 618 students actively participating and completing ballots in the democratic process.

Samuel Lund was re-elected to a second term as the SMSUSA president securing 90% of the votes. Lund is a senior political science/justice administration major from Buffalo.

Cassy Herding secured the position of SMSUSA vice president with 93% of the votes. Herding is a junior justice administration/political science major from Marshall.

Elora Olson was elected the SMSUSA PR Coordinator, securing a 94% of the votes. Olson is a senior biology major from Victoria.

The race for ACE coordinator was closely contested, ultimately resulting in Hermione Armendariz winning with 55% of the votes. Armendariz is a senior management major from Odessa, Texas.

Sebastian Tilton was elected as the SMSUSA treasurer with 95% of the votes. Tilton is a senior accounting major from Minnetrista.

In addition to the executive board, a cohort of individuals were elected by their peers to serve as senators, advocating for the diverse interests of the SMSU student populace.

The 2024-25 SMSU student senators elected by the SMSU student body are:

Shane Rogers is a sophomore CSCS major from Storden.

Edward Stonearrow is a freshman biology major from Marshall.

Logan Clarke is a freshman communication studies: broadcast & digital media major from Fulda.

Samuel Gerten is a freshman justice administration major from Inver Grove.

Megan Laughlin is a graduate student in the MBA program. She is from Richmond.

Shelby Lee is a sophomore history major from Ada.

Savanna Busch is a senior biology major from Williamsburg, Iowa.

Shenal Alex Peries is a freshman data science major from Nattandiya, Sri Lanka

Ratsamee Lee is a senior justice administration major from St. Paul.

Brock Ward is a junior political science major from Appleton, Wis.

The Student Association introduced two pivotal constitutional changes, both of which garnered significant support from the student body. The first amendment, aimed at expanding the Senate to 20 positions, with two reserved for freshmen and two for online students, passed convincingly with 90% of the votes. Similarly, the second amendment to reduce election petition signatures for executive members and Senators received overwhelming support, passing with 91% of the votes.

Furthermore, the Student Association, in collaboration with SMSU Athletics, presented a referendum to the students regarding an increase in the Athletic Fee. The proposal to raise the fee from $4.40/credit to $6.25/credit, slated to commence in the Academic Year 2024-2025, was met with approval, securing 70% of the votes.

As the newly-elected officials assume their roles, the Student Association appreciates and thanks all those involved in the election process.

SMSU DECA students sweep state, advance to nationals

SMSU student teams swept the state competition of the Collegiate Distributive Education Clubs of America (DECA) Career Conference in Organizational Leadership held in Willmar on Feb. 22-23. SMSU teams placed first, second, and third at the state level. Their hard work and dedication have secured their participation at the DECA International Career Development Conference (ICDC) in Austin, Texas, taking place April 20-23.

The state-level results:

1st place: Tayyaba Rehman, Favour Eneh, and Nathanael W. Herpa

2nd place: Isaac A Yeboah, Ebuka Aniebonam, and Kaleb Moo

3rd place: Krish Uday Patil and I-Hsuan Tang

Tayyaba Rehman is a graduate student from Pakistan in the Master of Business Administration (MBA) program. Favour Eneh is a freshman from Nigeria majoring in management. Nathanael W. Herpa is a junior from Ethiopia majoring in management, Isaac A. Yeboah is a graduate student from Ghana in his final year of the MBA program.

Ebuka Aniebonam is a graduate student from Nigeria in the MBA program.

Kaleb Moo is a part-time MBA student from Marshall. Krish Uday Patil is a sophomore computer science major from India. I-Hsuan Tang, from Taiwan, is a student in the MBA program.

DECA is an international association of high school and college students and teachers of marketing, management, and entrepreneurship in business, finance, hospitality, and marketing sales and service. The organization prepares leaders and entrepreneurs for careers and education in marketing, finance, hospitality, management, and other business areas. It is one of ten organizations listed as Career and Technical Student Organizations by the United States Department of Education.

Dr. Kenneth Chukwuba, who is an associate professor of Management and director of the MBA program, is the SMSU DECA Collegiate Chapter adviser.