The result of the runoff election for the undergraduate SGA president was announced on Wednesday, April 21 at the Student Center Commons. Corey Boone was elected the undergraduate Student Body President, garnering a total of 56 percent of the votes.
“This was pretty much the most challenging thing I have ever done in my entire life. I ran against the absolute most qualified person at Tech and I know without a shadow of a doubt that he would have done an excellent job,” Boone said, a third year MGT major and current Vice President of Communications for SGA.
Jimmy Williams, Boone’s opponent in the runoff election, received the remaining 44 percent of the vote.
“I’m just really proud of my team. The guys that volunteer, the girls that volunteered did such a great job. They gave up so much of their time and they did a fantastic job. I feel for them more than anything. Corey’s going to do a fantastic job,” Williams said, a 3rd year BMED major and SGA’s Vice President of Campus Affairs.
Elections began two weeks ago, with five candidates running for the position of Undergraduate Student Body president. Following the first round of elections, Williams led the field with 41.3 percent, compared to Boone’s 38.5 percent.
The elections this year received more votes overall than last year. Over 3423 students voted in the runoff election, lower than the number of students who voted during the general election. Still, approximately 91 percent of the number of students who voted in the general election participated during the runoff.
When asked about his future involvement in SGA, Williams said, “It’s too early to tell. Corey’s at the head of the ship now, so he’s going to be making the shots and…if he wants me in there somewhere then he and I will talk, and we’ll see.”
Boone will be sworn into office next Wednesday, along with the new Undergraduate Vice-President, Brenda Morales.
“I have never seen such excitement created around any particular thing, especially when it comes to people who support me, and I just hope that same level of excitement and interest is carried over throughout the year and is channeled through the student body,” Boone said.
As Executive Vice-President, Morales will serves as a member of the executive cabinet, preside over meetings of the Undergraduate House of Representatives and oversee legislation passed through the body.
“I am so excited to work with Brenda Morales. She is just the strongest student leader I’ve ever interacted with in quite some time. I know she is going to keep me on my toes and I am just so excited to wrk with someone who is as sharp and committed to making the student experience here at Georgia Tech,” Boone said.
Boone hopes to enact elements of his platform over the summer. One of the first things Boone will do is to create an executive cabinet to carry out new initiatives.
“A lot of the initiatives that I have set forth in my platform can be achieved over the summer, so the first steps are to form a team of very qualified individuals who are as committed to this thing as I am,” Boone said.