By Jocelyn Fowler
Reporter
It’s a match made in Campus Living and Learning heaven for two roommates who were elected to serve as president and vice president of the 2016 freshman class.
Humble freshman Jay Fields, a university scholar, will serve as the president of the freshman class for the 2012-2013 school year after defeating eight of his peers in the election Wednesday evening. As president Fields will be responsible for things such as conducting a project each semester and promoting unity in his class. Upon accepting his role as presidency, Fields says he is excited for the opportunity to introduce service project ideas he has been working on since the summer.
“I am most looking forward to being an agent of change for good with service,” said Fields. “In the summer I had contacted Burt Burleson and the director of missions here at Baylor about possibly lobbying for something put in place where a little bit of football tickets go toward mission trips. I just feel humbled and thankful that people entrusted me to spearhead some of the service projects.”
Fields will certainly have great support this semester with Coppell freshman Shehan Jeyarajah as his roommate and vice president. According to Fields he and Jeyarajah, a fellow university scholar, bonded over their common desire to serve through Student Government. Fields describes their simultaneous run for class officers as a “natural” result of their friendship and similar goals.
Fields and Jeyarajah were not the only student government officials elected Wednesday. The freshman class also elected 13 student senators and Houston freshman Jake Drake, a pre-biology major, as their class secretary- treasurer. The newly elected officials share in Fields excitement to begin their terms and serve others.
“One thing that I am really focused on right now is making sure that every student knows that they have a voice,” said San Augustine freshman Chase Hensley a new freshman senator. “I believe that every student has a voice and it is up to us as Student Government to make sure it’s heard.”
It is perhaps the service- orientated attitudes of the 16 class officials that secured their victories. Going into the polls freshman voters sought candidates that understood their concerns and frustrations and were willing to do something about it. Southlake freshman Travis Martin, a health sciences studies major, gave his vote to candidates who had definitive policies and concrete implementation strategies.
“Some of the characteristics I was looking for were people who didn’t bomb my Facebook or Twitter, but had something meaningful to say other than ‘Vote for me!’, said Martin. “They had some good ideas, they seemed like people with good integrity.”
