The dust is settling from two long weeks of campaigning and three hard days of voting. There are still random bits of evidence that our student body elected next year’s executive officers, but for the most part the campaign material is down and life goes on. For many students the Students’ Association returns to being the office in the basement of the McGlothlin Campus Center where you go to get a collegiate card or money for an event. At least that is what it seems, but in reality the work is just beginning.

In the next three weeks the elected executive team of the president, vice president and treasurer will be hiring an executive administrator, chief financial officer and chief communication officer. All of these positions are key to making sure that the Students’ Association is able to meet the needs of student groups and facilitate conversations between the administration and students. Much like the elected officers, the hired-on team members are paid, work a set amount of hours per week and get the pleasure of serving the student body.

So where do we go from here? I want to answer that question in two different ways. First off I want to encourage you to be involved in student government on our campus. In my opinion, we needed an election like the one we just had. Students needed to see that the Students’ Association has value and the executive officer positions are more than mere titles. Beyond that, I want to challenge you to be an active participant in the decisions that are made in this next year. Run for a Congress position, represent your fellow students, and serve your university.

The second way that I want to answer that question is to say that it is vital that you have an opinion about the decisions our university will be making in this next year. If you fail to have an opinion you are doing an injustice to the countless students attending ACU in the next couple of years. More than that, I encourage you to voice your opinion. Come to the SA office and let us advocate you, write a letter to the editor of the Optimist, create a petition or write an appropriate email to a university administrator. By having an opinion and voicing it, you are having an impact on ACU.

So where do we go from here? I will say it plainly. We move forward, looking to the Lord for guidance, and always seeking to make sure that ACU is better at the time we leave than when we arrived.