On Wed., March 30, the Macalester College Student Government (MCSG) announced that Merrit Stüven ’17 was elected President of MCSG for the 2016-2017 school year and will be the governing body’s first female-identifying president since Kathy Kim ’12, who served in the 2011-2012 school year.

Stüven, who currently serves as a Class of 2017 representative, received 523 of 966 total votes (54 percent) in MCSG Executive Board elections that spanned Monday and Tuesday. She defeated Suveer Daswani ’18, the current head of the Student Organizations Committee (SOC), who received 393 votes (41 percent). In total, write-in candidates received the remaining 50 votes (5 percent) in the presidential election.

Stüven wrote in an email Wednesday that she was still coming to terms with the win.

“I’m still pretty overwhelmed and kind of in disbelief, but I am so honored and in awe of this community,” Stüven wrote. “The support I received during the campaign, the election and today has been so meaningful to me and has reaffirmed for me what a wonderful, kind community Macalester is. That said, I am excited to finish out the year working hard as a class representative and learning the ropes from Ian.”

Stüven wrote that she views the results as more than just a support of her and her plans, but as a support of women at Macalester in general.

“Being elected as the first female President of MCSG since 2012 is incredibly meaningful to me,” Stüven wrote. “The women of MCSG are some of the most inspirational and strong individuals I know and they have shaped much of my experience on MCSG. I would not have run for President without their encouragement.

I am dedicated to making sure that my election is not the end of our conversation about the underrepresentation of women and minority groups on MCSG. Rather, I see my election and the incredible voter turnout as a sign that the student body sees and cares about these gaps in representation and I am excited to use my position to continue that conversation.”

Stüven will be joined by Colin Casey ’17, who currently serves as Chief of Staff to the MCSG Executive Board and has been elected Vice-President, as the heads of MCSG. Casey received 480 of 940 votes (51 percent). Jack Chen ’18, a current Class of 2018 representative, finished in second place in the vice-presidential election with 424 votes (45 percent). Various write-in candidates received the remaining 36 votes (4 percent).

Casey wrote in an email that the election of a female president was “very exciting.”

“The trend that MCSG presidents are historically male does not reflect our values as a community,” Casey wrote. “I have faith that under Merrit’s leadership MCSG will create a more welcoming and inclusive environment.”

Casey also wrote that he’d like to thank the support of his friends and family.

“I don’t take this victory lightly,” Casey wrote. “Now that the election is over, the real work begins. I’m looking forward to working with current VP Jolena Zabel to make my transition into office as smooth as possible. I want to stress that any students with questions or concerns regarding MCSG are welcome to email me or speak with me in person.”

The chair positions of both the SOC and the Academic Affairs Committee (AAC) were also up for election. Johannes Davies ’18, currently a Class of 2018 representative, has been elected chair of the SOC for 2016-2017. Davies received 682 of 926 total votes (74 percent), beating out Dylan Smith ’17, who received 216 votes (23 percent), and several write-in candidates, who received 28 votes in total (three percent). Remy Eisendrath ’17, a current Class of 2017 representative, ran unopposed for AAC chair, winning the position with 849 of 908 total votes (94 percent), with the remaining 59 votes (six percent) going to multiple write-in candidates. Davies and Eisendrath will join Stüven and Casey on MCSG’s Executive Board for the coming school year.

Rounding out MCSG’s Executive Board for 2016-2017, Olivia Doe ’18 and Sydney Keiler ’17 will serve as chairs of Program Board (PB) and the Financial Affairs Committee (FAC), respectively. Doe, a current Traditions Coordinator of PB, and Keiler, the current FAC bookkeeper, were both elected in February.