Cy Shimamura and Jason Hunter will be the new President and Vice President pair for the 2022-2023 Colorado Mesa University (CMU) school year.
The duo earned 52.9% of the votes with 771 counted, compared to the Edwards/Rios campaign of 36.4% and Hollar/Steele campaign of 10.7%.
“We’re really grateful for the team and the people that we’ve met along the way, just from being out in the plaza or just like reaching out to our friends, I mean, people to vote and it’s been awesome that we have a great support [system],” Shimamura said.
Shimamura and Hunter ran on a campaign of four pillars: Honesty & Transparency, Consulting, Availability, and Encouragement. One of the big goals of their administration, in their words, is bringing Maverick pride back, from encouraging students to going to events to helping clubs with issues and funding that they face.
“It’s a great honor,” Hunter said. “[…] It’s the best feeling, like it was bigger than ourselves.”
Shimamura is currently majoring in Business Management, and has served as the Minority Senator for two years. He’s from Kailua, Oahu in Hawaii.
Hunter is a Business Marketing major who grew up in College Park, Georgia with six siblings. Going into his fifth year, he has been a part of the Theta Xi fraternity.
In regards to their new position, Shimamura will be leaving his role of the Director of the Cultural Inclusion Council that he has been in for the past year, while Hunter will not be continuing his Production Manager role at the campus radio station KMSA.
Another goal of their campaign was to foster a sense of camaraderie and make sure to uphold the prestige and importance attached to Senate and House positions.
“It’s important for them to understand that and take pride in what they’re doing,” Hunter said. “As Vice President, I’ll make sure AG internally understands that because I think that’s something that’s kind of been lost recently as well.”
With the biennial budget process approaching next year, which takes parts of student fees and distributes them to Student Life and student organizations, Shimamura and Hunter will get working immediately after being sworn in on May 11.
