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A spirit that is not afraid

Smith and McEwen voted SGA vice president and treasurer

Though the SGA presidential race is headed into a run-off set for Thursday, Feb. 9, the newest SGA vice president and treasurer were announced during Callouts on Tuesday, Feb. 7 on Cater Lawn.

Justin Smith, newly elected SGA vice president, won 48.39 percent with 4,647 votes in his favor to defeat Griffin Osborne and Sarah Beth Cape. Griffin received 3,136 votes earning him 32.66 percent, while Cape received 1,820 votes earning her 18.95 percent. 

Smith said he wasn't sure he'd won because he couldn't clearly hear his name being called.

"Initially I didn't even hear my name," Smith said. "I just saw a bunch of people cheering around me and I thought 'oh my goodness, maybe I won.'"

Having met so many different students throughout the campaign process, Smith said he feels lucky to have made several new friends. 

"The best part of this week has been meeting all of these people," Smith said. "I literally feel like I've increased the size of my friend group by a million percent. It's just been a lot of fun."

Smith said his first order of business as he takes on his new role in SGA is to work alongside current SGA Vice President Brandon Honeywell to implement the senator orientation training he'd promoted in his platform.

"On my platform I said I wanted to do a new senator orientation and all the new senators have already been elected, so that's something I have to immediately start on," Smith said.

Griffin Osborne said despite his loss, he's proud of his campaign team.

"I just enjoyed the experience completely," Osborne said. "I just put my faith in God and all the effort my team put in."

Newly elected SGA Treasurer Frank McEwen said he was thankful for the team working behind him throughout his campaign.

"Literally none of this could have happened without all of these incredible people surrounding me," McEwen said. "I'm so thankful and blessed by every single one of them."

McEwen won over 47.35 percent of voters, earning 4,492 votes. Competitor Alex Patrick walked away with 4,087 votes and 43.08 percent overall, while Gabrielle Pollard received 907 votes for SGA treasurer earning her 9.56 percent.

Pollard said she had a great time listening to different students and their ideas throughout the week.

"I was really excited when I heard Frank's name be called," Pollard said. "I believe he will do great in the office, and the students of Auburn University are in good hands. Even though the number of votes for me was small compared to Alex's and Frank's, I was still really surprised with my turnout and glad I was able to impact that many people."

McEwen said SGA campaign week's been one of his best yet during his time at Auburn.

"I couldn't have asked for a better experience than this week was," McEwan said.

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