Making crucial decisions, discussing riveting issues and educating students on important information, Black Hills State University’s Student Senate has proven to hold immense power on campus.

Following spring break, Student Senate will be electing a new President and Vice President. From there, general office elections will commence in April.

Sophomore Chemistry and Political Science major, Hannah Neumiller, and junior Political Science major and Sociology minor, Elijah Bush, are two of the candidates competing for presidency in the upcoming election.

Bush was first elected to Student Senate in the Spring of 2016. While on Student Senate he served as one of the College of Liberal Arts Senators, as the first and third President Pro-Tempore, as well as on the Activity Grants, Academic Affairs, Civic Engagement, General Activity Fee, Internal Affairs and Public Relations Committees.

Neumiller has been an active member of Student Senate for the past two years. Currently she holds title of Office Administrator and, in the year prior, served as Freshman Senator.

“I’m running for president because I am passionate about my campus and community and believe that, through my two years of experience working on and leading the Student Senate, I am aware of how to communicate to students, how to effectively implement initiatives that benefit them and how to work with administration to achieve goals we set,” Neumiller said.

Both candidates have illustrated just how passionate they are about the position and how dedicated they will be to creating a better life here at Black Hills State University.

Bush said, “I was inspired to run because I believe that the Student Senate has done some really great work over the past couple of years. However, I believe we can be doing more to help fix the problems facing the student body. I believe that we must fight for the university experience that we all deserve. BHSU can be and should be better and I am running because we need someone who will stand up for the students, even when the conversation gets difficult. I am not afraid to stand up for what is right and I am running to lift all of the students’ voices up. I will do my best to represent the interests of the students and ensure that we have real positive change.”

For more information on elections, Student Senate or presidential candidates, contact [email protected] or [email protected].