Matt Calderone was elected Student Government Association president for the 2012-2013 school year Tuesday night, beating out opponents David Wilson II and Shea Stripling.
He received a total of 6,404 votes from the 10,115 students who participated in the election. Voter turnout was up from the 2011 election, when 9,150 students voted, favoring Grant Cochran over Coresa Nancy Hogan.
“I’m overwhelmed,” Calderone said, minutes after receiving the news. “It was an incredible experience. I’m just extremely humbled. This is without a doubt the proudest moment of my life.”
Calderone said the campaign season was an exhausting but exhilarating process.
“The high point of the campaign was just seeing how much support I had from everyone,” he said. “The people who I thought might not care about student government just poured out a tremendous amount of love and support.”
The Machine, a secret political coalition of traditionally white fraternities and sororities, endorsed Calderone.
Wilson, who won 2,917 votes, urged supporters not to become discouraged and to continue to push for change on campus.
“Things are changing. Things are going to change,” Wilson said. “Numbers and SGA elections aren’t going to prevent the deeper campus movements that are going on here. It’s important that we fight for progressiveness and the good things that are happening on this campus.”
State Rep. John Merrill, the 1986 SGA president and last independent elected to the office, commended Wilson’s commitment to the campaign.
“I think David had a good strategy and was committed,” Merrill said. “I just think this proves once again how difficult it is to defeat the Machine. It’s very hard to get people excited and motivated about an independent candidate to the point of participating in the election and demonstrating the change that is necessary.”
Calderone and Wilson were both informed of election results over the phone. Stripling, however, learned of the outcome via e-mail.
“I congratulate Matt,” Stripling said. “I think that he is going to have to remember the kind of things he talked about doing and make sure he actually carries through with them.”
Stripling said she hopes Calderone will honor his campaign promises to work for campus unity.
Wilson expressed confidence in Calderone’s future leadership.
“I think it’s really important that the entire campus rallies around Matt Calderone as the new SGA president,” he said. “He’s going to do great things. He knows what to do.”
Calderone said he would spend the days leading up to his inauguration getting to know other SGA members.
“I’m really just going to be establishing relationships with the other people who have been elected into the office,” he said. “I really want to set a tone for the student government that we are here to work for students. We are not here to advance ourselves; we are here to advance this campus. I want every officer, every vice president, to be on the same page with that.”
