Chris Ballard resigned from his position as vice president at the beginning of the semester. Brian Rathfelder was appointed by SGA E-board to fill his position.
Ballard was in the process of serving his second year in office. Last semester he won the position of vice president when no one ran against him. Although Ballard brought a lot to the table and made some great contributions, his absence will not affect the direction of SGA.
About his resignation, Ballard stated, “My decision to leave SGA was based on the fact I felt I was becoming isolated from the student body and the work that I wanted to accomplish.” Even though he will no longer serve SGA, he still plans on helping his school the best he can.
Even though Ballard left some projects unfinished, current members of SGA had only good things to say about him.
“Working with Chris was a great experience as he was especially tuned into furthering the student’s agenda,” said SGA president Lisa English.
In his new position, Rathfelder plans to pick up where Ballard left off while bringing in his own point of view. When asked about how he feels about Ballard’s departure from SGA, Rathfelder said, “He left me with big shoes to fill, the leadership he brought to the team was awesome. He set high precedents.”
Rathfelder was appointed the position of vice president because of the contributions he made to SGA last semester as a senator. Also, because he already has a good sense of the direction SGA wants to go.
Ballard said, “Rathfelder is and excellent candidate for the position. I think he will fight for the students here on campus in my absence.”
Because Rathfelder has recently been appointed this position, he is currently focusing on the projects that have already been set into action. He feels that the amount of work will be vast and there simply are not enough hours in each day. Even so, he is excited to take on such a challenge.
Rathfelder said that he most looks forward to all the new opportunities SGA is giving to the students, “This will be a great year.”