Olivia Ingle
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Butler University’s student body has elected sophomore Chris Ring as the next Student Government Association (SGA) President.
Ring and his opponent, Kiely Keesler, were notified prior to the community announcement in the Butler Connection last Thursday morning.
“I was waiting around for the call for a long time and was very nervous about it,” Ring said. “I was very honored and excited to get this distinction.”
Sophomore Anna Roueche, chair of the Election Oversight Committee (EOC), said the election ran smoothly.
“From what I could tell from documentation from last year’s election, there were fewer complications with the voting ballots, which was nice for us and IR (Information Resources),” she said. “The run-offs were equally successful.”
Ring said he is ready for the next couple of months to prepare him for his position, starting with selecting his executive team.
There are several positions that he will fill, but two are chosen by assembly.
“That’s the biggest thing I have to do right now,” Ring said. “I also have to start meeting with my adviser, Caroline Huck-Watson, on a regular basis.”
He said he will go to Watson with a lot of questions, but may also turn to current SGA President Chad Lesczynski for guidance.
“He’ll be a good resource for me next year because we’re in the same (fraternity) house, and he’s a pharmacy major, so he’ll be here for two more years,” Ring said.
Once his term of office starts, Ring said he’s going to take everything one step at a time.
After he chooses his executive committee, he plans to get started changing the two boards within SGA to which he has proposed changes.
“I want to start working with them over the summer and then once the school year starts, I’ll take on re-energizing assembly,” Ring said.
He said he can recognize people in assembly who can speak out and get people going, and they are who he will look to to boost morale.
“They are a means of getting people to speak,” Ring said. “I also want to start out each assembly with a discussion period.”
He said he has taken a realistic view to get the student body involved with SGA.
“I’ve heard a motivational speaker say before that there is the top third that is always doing something the bottom third that will never do anything, and then the middle third that will do something if you’re calling on them,” Ring said. “I am going to try to work on that middle third, but I also recognize that you can’t get everyone to be excited about it the way that you’d like to.”
Conflict is something that Ring said he is prepared for.
“I’m not very confrontational, but I am good at mediating,” he said. “I don’t like seeing people clash at each other, so I am very good at opening up communication. If you create structure, it’s much easier to create a resolution.”
Scooter Stein, a sophomore double major in international studies and Spanish and a member of the EOC, said Ring is a great candidate and will be a strong leader for SGA.
“Chris knows how to work with people, multitask with high efficiency and he already has experience working with various members of the faculty and staff,” Stein said. “He will improve the level of communication the student body has with the faculty and staff.”
Ring said he is excited to see what next year will bring.
“I’m just excited about leaving my mark on campus,” he said. “I want to leave a positive mark on Butler and I am just excited about beginning that process and really getting people re-energized about student government.”
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