Tensions were high as students waited for the Electoral Commissioner Shaun West to announce the results of the Spring 2006 Elections.
The winners for Student Government Association President and Vice President were Phillip Agnew and Monique Gillum, who ran unopposed.
“I’m very excited. Monique called me and I heard the results. I think next year is going to be a great year,” said Agnew, 21, a junior business administration student from Chicago.
Agnew was in Chicago to be with his family due to a family emergency.
The crowd exploded as the winners of Mr. and Miss FAMU were announced.
Cyrah Hawkins will serve as Mr. FAMU for the 2006-2007 school year. Cherlise Forshee and Stephanie Evans will compete in a runoff election on Thursday.
A teary-eyed Stephanie Evans approached the Set in awe as members of her campaign team embraced her.
“I’m just overwhelmed and I’m happy that I got this far…it’s gonna be on,” said Evans, referring to the runoff election for Miss FAMU on Thursday.
Evans said she is very confident about the runoff election.
Several candidates stayed home or nearby to await the results.
Forshee, who planned to wait in a nearby parking lot to hear the results, said: “I will continue to work hard and explain my platform to students. I think I have a very capable and competent opponent, and I look forward to the next few days.
Hawkins relaxed at practice with his Striker brothers anticipating the outcome of the elections.
“Honestly, overall it was a great experience,” Hawkins said. “My campaign team did a good job and they did it out of the kindness of their hearts.
“Waking up early…whatever I needed them to do, they did it,” continued Hawkins, 21, a junior criminal justice student from Atlanta.
“Of course there were some negative people…my banners got ripped down at the One Stop Shop…fliers were on the floor after we stormed a class. I’m excited because it’s something I wanted to do. I’m glad I could experience the week.”
Immediately after the results were announced, Hawkins rejoiced with his campaign team.
” It feels great…I’m ecstatic,” Hawkins said. “I have been awake for 22 hours and when they called my name for Mr. FAMU it was like a dream come true – I know that sounds cliché but it’s the truth.”
Rhonita Bellamy and Chasity Logan will compete in runoff elections for senior attendant on Thursday. “I’m very excited that I have the honor of making it to the runoff elections. What God has for me is for me,” Logan said.
Bellamy believes that the elections weren’t fair.
“They didn’t open on time, they ran out of ballots, and a lot of people were turned away because their names weren’t on the list.”
She thinks that things would have turned out a lot different had the polls been more organized.
However, West was pleased with the way the week went.
“Everybody did what they were supposed to do,” West said. “It was a fair game. All the way up until this morning we had a few problems.”
West agrees that the list from the registrar’s office was not as accurate as it should have been which caused some problems.
“The list did not include some names. We extended hours to give students an opportunity to vote. It was something out of our control,” said West, 23, an applied sciences graduate student from Tallahassee. “I was disappointed that the number of candidates dropped from half of last year’s candidates. Last spring, we had 100 candidates, we had only 50 this spring.
West added that there is a serious need for students to step up and run for positions. “Our main concern was the lack of effort for students to run for positions.”
Agnew said he hopes that candidates who got elected will fulfill their campaign promises, and those who didn’t will “still work to better the university.”
Staff editors Christina Hordge, Nicole Bardo-Colon, and Christy G. Bennett contributed to this report.