A crowd gathered around the Sul Ross statue awaiting the announcement of the student body election results on Friday night, and the 5 for Yell candidates emerged as the 2017-2018 Yell Leaders.

The announcements came quick, beginning with student senators and ending with Yell Leader elections. For the second year in a row, the Corps of Cadets 5 for Yell initiative swept all Yell Leader positions. Viet Nguyen will hold the position of sophomore class president, Amy Sharp for junior class president, and Bobby Ramirez for senior class president. Full election results can be found here. 

Student body president results were not announced. According to Election commissioner Rachel Keathley, this was due to the disqualification of Robert McIntosh who had garnered a high number of votes. Keathley confirmed that Mcintosh was disqualified due to 14 reports of voter intimidation in which he approached voters and asked them to vote on the spot while he watched. The results of this position are to be determined, but Keathley said the reconfiguration process of 16,000+ votes is difficult and may take up to a few days to calculate. 

Elected junior leader and kinesiology sophomore Gavin Suel said it is an honor to represent the Corps of Cadets as a Yell Leader.

“Day one in the Corps we are called to embody the tradition of A&M in every way we can,” Suel said. “Whether it’s memorising facts about the university, or just going to every single Silver Taps or standing with the 12th Man, and the mentality that it develops. Nothing is given, everything is earned. It makes people really driven for this job.”

In terms of the upcoming year, Suel said he is sincerely looking forward to transitioning into the position.

“I’m over the moon about this and I can’t wait to represent our student body and represent A&M, and to hold the tradition and legacy that great men behind us have upheld so far,” Suel said. “The biggest thing is just gratitude to our team and everyone who came out and voted for us. It’s just incredible that people have this much faith in us to trust us with this responsibility.”

Fellow elected junior Yell Leader and agricultural business sophomore Connor Joseph said he is thankful for those with whom he worked.

“I would just echo appreciation,” Joseph said. “We’ve been working so hard for this and others have worked so selflessly for us. So we appreciate those who have lost sleep and spent hours encouraging and supporting us and our  love for this university. And thanks to the students for entrusting us for this position and for voting.”
Joseph said that the unity and camaraderie of the Corps of Cadets played a large role in the 5 for Yell win.
“We learn from day one to work together, to be unified with the guys we work with, to stand together and support each other,” Joseph said. “The support and hard work demonstrated by the Corps has really just been encouraging and impressive to me.”

Agricultural economics junior and elected senior Yell Leader Ken Belden said hearing all the names of the 5 for Yell candidates called was a surreal feeling without comparison.

“I think the biggest thing that I’m thinking right now is that I’m just thankful we were given the opportunity to be out here and run with these guys,” Belden said. “The fact that I was fortunate enough to run with Ian and Cooper and Gavin and Connor and hear all their names called; that’s one of the best feelings on this planet, even more so than hearing my own.”

Along with the chance to serve Texas A&M University in a unique way, Belden said he is honored to hold a position of influence toward the student body and beyond.

“I think the biggest thing I’m looking forward to is really getting the opportunity to serve in this capacity,” Belden said. “Because not many roles do you get to go each and every single day impacting hundreds upon hundreds of people. It’s very rare to have an opportunity like this.”

While the competition was tough according to construction science junior and elected senior Yell Leader Cooper Cox, he said he recognized the hard work and dedication of the other candidates.

“It was just a tight race to the end, and I think everyone just had a stellar campaign team,” Cox said. “I think every candidate was a stellar candidate, and it was just a hard fought race. We look forward to it, we don’t take it lightly, we’re going to take it very seriously. We are going to give our all to the students and we’re going to give our all to Texas A&M. We just couldn’t be more blown away that the students would choose us.”

Regarding the 5 for Yell campaign, construction science junior and elected senior Yell Leader Ian Moss said he was grateful to the people who supported them throughout the election process.

“I want to thank our campaign staff, first and foremost, and the student body,” Moss said. “Our names got out there because our campaign team worked so hard day in and day out without any reward besides seeing us serving in the capacity they know we’d love to, and without them we wouldn’t have even had a prayer.”

Furthermore, Moss said his faith was a source of motivation during his campaign and will continue to guide his actions as senior Yell Leader.
“God is the reason why we’re here today,” Moss said. “And I just want to echo that to anybody who might be reading this, that we want God’s glory to be shown through this, and that’s by loving individuals and giving every person your utmost attention, making them feel like they have a special place here. And so I, number one, want to just say that we’re here because we want to serve this university in way that would be honoring to God.”