It was 7:05 p.m. in Academic Plaza when Student Body President candidate Amy Sharp asked her campaign manager Valentina Tovar to pray with her. The election announcements were filled with anticipation as Tovar squeezed Sharp’s hand. The final name of the night left Sharp, her family and her campaign team shouting with joy.
The announcement on Feb. 23 was the culmination of months of dedicated campaigning and three years of service to Texas A&M as the Class of 2019 president. Of the 12,716 eligible ballots cast in the SBP race, Sharp received 5,131 first-preference votes. In the final runoff against runner-up Harrison Hancock, Sharp came out ahead with 60.03 percent of voter preference. As Sharp waits to take up her new responsibilities on April 21, she will continue to serve as class president until the end of her term.
Sharp and some of her closest campaign members reflected on their efforts and what they hope Sharp will accomplish in her new role.
When the Fall 2017 semester began, Sharp was making plans to continue her role as class president during her senior year. But after being approached by close friends and peers who recommended she run for Student Body President, Sharp’s vision for her last year at A&M shifted dramatically.
“All the people that I trust and love told me I needed to do it,” Sharp said. “The more I thought about it and the more I began to understand the role, the more I realized that the experience, the relationships and the university contacts that I developed, along with the passion for our traditions and for A&M, was the perfect recipe to serve in the role.”
Sharp’s desire to serve the university through a leadership position began long before she ever considered running for Student Body President.
“When I was at Fish Camp, Joseph Benigno [former SBP and Class of 2016] came and spoke and I was so inspired by him,” Sharp said. “He was the reason I ran for Class of 2019 president as a freshman, because he was just inspiring and passionate about A&M and everyone was just captivated when he was talking and excited about A&M and about the things he said … I wanted to be able to inspire people the way he did.”
Sharp’s rules and regulations manager, management junior Austin Lee, has known Sharp since their freshman year and watched her grow from the new Aggie who had a desire to motivate others into the well-equipped leader she is today.
“I think confidence is one of the biggest changes I can see,” Lee said. “You have to believe in yourself to be in those positions. Amy has leadership and communication skills and passion and I think all of those grew as well. Those things that she is best at now have grown a lot since freshman year.”
Sharp’s campaign manager, political science junior Valentina Tovar, said Sharp’s dedication is evident through her actions, such as a time when Sharp was sick but refused to miss a meeting because of her commitment to the role as class president.
“Her resilience to be her best all the time and giving her best, whether it’s a council meeting, officer meeting, or an [executive] meeting — whatever it may be, she just doesn’t stop,” Tovar said. “I think that’s pretty incredible.”
While Sharp’s election to the position of Student Body President is already a mark of success, it is only a stepping stone toward a future of selfless service, according to Tovar.
“I’m excited for how she’s going to change the world,” Tovar said. “I think Student Body President is such a good platform to do that but just in life in general … I think SBP is part of the process of who she’s going to become, but I know there’s so much more in ways that she wants to serve A&M after undergrad and continue to serve the people surrounding her.”
Despite the fact that Sharp will not take office until April 21, she has already started taking steps to learn her new position by making plans to meet with department representatives and current Student Body President Bobby Brooks. Sharp said she wants to start planning early so she can be efficient in addressing her three main policy goals: academic improvement, increasing inclusion and improving access to physical and mental health services.
“I know that the mental and physical health services is going to be the number one priority,” Sharp said. “For instance, with student counseling services … if students feel like they can’t get help, that is a problem that needs to be addressed. I’m excited to dive into that process and [help] to make it more efficient for students, so they can get in and get help, but also helping students understand where help is offered.”
While Sharp said she knows the role of Student Body President will come with many challenges, she is excited to take on the responsibility.
“There is a lot of learning to be done but I am confident that the things I plan to address are the things that students want and need on campus, so I’m excited to work with students to get those things done,” Sharp said.