Tim Nguyen became UMKC’s SGA president-elect for the 2021-22 school year last Friday, garnering 295 votes (52.3%) over incumbent Mahreen Ansari’s 261 (46.27%).
Nguyen ran on community service and professional development platforms aimed to increase student success. The former Pre-Dental Society president said he was surprised by the result but is ready to embrace the leadership role.
“Stepping into this new position will be challenging, [but] I’m ready for the challenge,” said Nguyen. “I’m not doing this single handedly. I’m doing this with a team, with the SGA and with the UMKC student community.”
The other members of Ansari’s UMKC Onward Party found more success. Abigail Weiler, the first freshman elected to a SGA executive office, won the vice presidential race. Kyle Potts won the comptroller election, and Malavika Rajaram won the seat for internal affairs director.
Ansari said that while they do not know what their future plans are, they are going to do all they can to make positive changes at UMKC.
“Even though my time as SGA president may be coming to an end soon my dedication to my fellow Roos and UMKC isn’t ending with it,” Ansari said.
Nguyen says the first step for him will be reaching out to the newly elected SGA members as well as those who have previously held the office. He attributed his campaign’s success to the support of student leaders who encouraged voter participation through word-of-mouth.
First year pharmacy student Anna Nguyen attended undergrad at UMKC and has with both candidates in the past. Anna Nguyen says she did not find the results surprising because Tim Ngyuen seemed passionate about the role.
“I think it’s impressive that Tim Nguyen did not use social media as his main platform to campaign,” Anna Nguyen said. “I personally received notifications about his campaign through him personally and by word-of-mouth from a few of my classmates at Hospital Hill.”
Emily Hanson, a sophomore majoring in nursing, said she’s excited to see what Tim Nguyen will accomplish.
“He seemed to have some enthusiasm to bring more awareness to campus organizations that are available to students, which is honestly great,” Hanson said.
Senior Betty Trinh said she was excited to see a fellow Vietnamese person in office. Since she didn’t know either candidate personally, she said she judged solely on each candidate’s performance in the UNews debate.
Latinx Student Union (LSU) President Daisy Montoya said she was not expecting the election’s outcome.
“We made sure to tell our LSU general body members to vote as well as on our Instagram story,” said Montoya. “I was shocked with the results but expected there to be a lower turnout due to people not being as involved with the school, having less time in the school, and overall lack of interest.”
Asian Students In America (ASIA) President Marcus Thieu said he was excited to see that both candidates were Asian-identifying.
“In light of the increase of hate crimes toward our AAPI community it’s heartwarming to know that we still want our voices to be heard and recognized,” Thieu said.
Students also voted for two senators to represent their school of study, along with five at-large senators representing the student body as a whole.
Sagi Rudnick, a student double-majoring in political science and communications, was elected as a senator at large along with Anya Kumar, Natalie McCarthy, and Duke Porter.
Rudnick said he ran as an at-large senator because he saw an opportunity to make an impact.
“I feel privileged and humbled to work for the student body and I offer my congratulations to, as well as my commitment to work with, our incoming SGA president and the rest of SGA,” said Rudnick.
This year, 564 students voted in the election, just over half the number of voters that participated in the hotly contested 2020 SGA election between Brandon Henderson, Justice Horn and Daphne Posadas.
2021 SGA ELECTION WINNERS:
Executive Board
President: Tim Nguyen (52.3%)
Vice President: Abigail Weiler (96.27%)
Internal Affairs Director: Malavika Rajaram (60.1%)
Comptroller: Kyle Pots (96.27%)
Senators At-Large
Anya Kumar (29.76%)
Natalie McCarthy (28.06%)
Sagi Rudnick (20.16%)
Duke Porter (19.2%)
Write-In Candidate Under Review (2.8%)
College of Arts and Sciences Senators
Lawrence Brooks IV (57.14%)
Riley Peek (41.5%)
Bloch School
Carrigan Rohach (45.36%)
Brenda Robinson (29.89%)
Conservatory
Brett Boyer (83.33%)
Write-In Candidate Under Review (16.66%)
Graduate School Council
Ely Fair (48.38%)
Matthew Lukowicz (45.8%)
School of Computing and Engineering
Truman Delles (47.45%)
Reagan Dumm (42.37%)
School of Dentistry
Alexandria Thomas (29.16%)
Mackenzie Williams (23.61%)
School of Education
Jessica Meador (51.28%)
Nicole Davidge (48.71%)
School of Biological and Chemical Sciences
Christian Dang (54.85%)
Gracyn Pietrusiński (26.85%)
