As the Whitewater Student Government spring presidential elections came to a close last Thursday evening, two students, who ran as a slate, sat with confidence that they had won the election.
Sophomore Patrick Johnson, a music major and advertising minor from Delavan, was elected president with freshman John Jensen, a political science major and history minor from Burlington, as his vice president.
The WSG elections yielded 226 total votes, with 174 of them in favor of Johnson and Jensen. President Johnson served three semesters as a senator on student government. This semester is Vice President Jensen’s first semester on WSG.
Johnson and Jensen ran as a partnership and were the only names on the ballot. Various other students were voted for the presidency by write-ins.
The application process for positions in student government starts up soon. For students hoping to get involved, President Johnson and Vice President Jensen would be glad to assist any newcomers.
Johnson and Jensen shared their excitement by talking with the Royal Purple.
RP: Tell me a little about yourselves. What are some attributes people often use to describe you?
PJ: I like to play trombone. I really like playing music, studying music, things like that. My friends really think I am fun and caring. I’m really looking forward to creating some better friendships in WSG.
JJ: I like to read a lot. I know a lot about history, which is why I picked it as my minor. I really wanted to do something in law, too, so political science seemed like the best way to go. I also like to play guitar.
RP: When did you first become interested in government?
PJ: Right when I walked into school, I saw a sign for a constituent meeting here on campus. After that I really started enjoying politics in WSG and a lot of things that were going on. I really didn’t think I’d be interested in running for president until about last year. The idea really just took off after I met John and we decided to go through with it.
JJ: My peer mentor was the current speaker, Stephanie Abbott, and when we first met she kind of gave me the idea. That is how I decided to join.
RP: What motivated you two to run as a team?
PJ: I had just been looking for someone to run with. It’s generally easier to run as a slate. We wanted the same things here on campus; more involvement, things like that. So I think once we found out we’d be a good working team, we decided we’d go along with it.
RP: Did you expect to win? How did you feel about the win?
PJ: We had a little bit of a heart attack when we found out that someone else was maybe going to be running late in the election, but when the numbers came through, we were really relieved. I think we both expected that we’d win.
JJ: When we found out, Patrick was actually upstairs at the swing dance event and I was down [in the WSG office] waiting for the results. Once we found out, I went upstairs to the swing dance floor. Pat was playing trombone and he just had the cockiest look on his face [laughs]. We were both really excited.
RP: What do you plan to focus on during your time as president and vice president?
PJ: Student involvement. There’s a lot of diversity in our school and if we don’t all work together I think we could lose a lot of that diversity and that’s really important to us.
JJ: I think involvement and really pushing this organization to make sure that everybody knows that it exists.
RP: How will your presidency and vice presidency benefit the student body?
PJ: I think we’ll see a large increase in involvement on campus; voter involvement, debate involvement, just things like that.
RP: Do you think you’ll further yourself in politics in the future?
PJ: [laughs] I’d love to one day. It’s a big step in life to take something on like that. It’d be fun if it’s in the cards and I’m sure John will be there one day. [laughs]
