Updated: Wednesday, March 28, 4:30 p.m.
Chris Yim and Laura Cook were elected the new Associated Students president and vice president Tuesday night.
Yim was in the middle of studying for midterms when current AS president Janine Marderian called him with the news.
“I was very much in awe. I was anticipating Natasha to win because she really ran a very competitive race. I was expecting a 50-50 but I expected her to get it because she’s been in AS longer,” Yim said. “I’m really in shock. I’m really humbled. I’m really grateful for everyone who has supported us.”
Yim said he received the news a full hour earlier than he had expected. After hearing from Marderian, Yim called Cook to congratulate her.
“I was overwhelmed,” Cook said. “I wasn’t sure if Chris was kidding or not because I wasn’t expecting the phone call from him and I was literally in shock.”
Cook was with the Hope North resident director when she received the news. Cook then ran up to the fourth floor of Hope, where she is the current resident assistant.
Yim and Cook won the election with 729 votes, beating out Natasha Cheeley and Beatriz Delgadillo, who garnered 627 votes. A total of 1,356 students voted in the election.
Yim said he will begin training with Marderian within the next few weeks, as the hiring process for AS positions begins in April.
Junior Amy Howard, elections chair, said that each senator candidate received a call from senior Ryan Freudenburg, current AS senior vice president, notifying them of election results. Howard said that all senator positions were filled during elections. Last year, AS hired positions that were still empty after elections were over.
Howard also said that there was more accountability this year in the senator voting process. Each scantron was numbered according to the voter’s housing location and the scantrons were then separated into their respective groups.
Election results for the Student Missionary Union were released earlier than AS on Tuesday night. At approximately 8:20 p.m. on Tuesday, Stephen Croft was announced as the 2012-2013 SMU president.
Current SMU president Chris Johnson called Croft while he was in a philosophy class. Croft said he ran out of the class to answer Johnson’s phone call.
“I was speechless. I said wow a few times. I leaned against some handrails and Chris did most of the talking,” Croft said. “My expectation was that God was going to be glorified through what happened. He has made it so evident that he is in control.”
After SMU used Twitter to break the election results, Croft’s opponent, Cody Ramaekers, commented on the outcome.
“I’m stoked for Stephen. It’s really rad. [The elections have] been a cool experience pursuing Christ. God [gave] this great opportunity to Stephen,” Ramaekers said.
Croft stated he will be meeting with Johnson on Thursday to begin training, however he emphasized that he is dedicated to finishing out the year as the co-director of prayer, and he will continue training his successor.
