February 16, 2010

Contact:   Bill Giduz

(l-r) Gerard Dash '12 and Kevin Hubbard '11

This year's newly elected leaders of the Student Government Association (SGA) are eager to keep what they believe is an effective organization headed in the right direction.

President-elect Kevin Hubbard, a junior political science major from Breezy Point, N.Y., said, "I want SGA to initiate improvements that affect everyone's lives. Things like increased acceptance of CAT cards for purchases at community businesses, new vacuums for the halls, extension of hours for the taco bar in the union, water fountains at outdoor sport venues, and more events like Winter Fest to bring people together."

Vice President-elect Gerard Dash, a sophomore from Columbia, S.C., added, "Past presidents have done a great job. I want to build on that with some new ideas to make the Davidson experience special for everyone."

Davidson's SGA includes 42 members who represent class years, Patterson Court houses, and numerous student organizations. Hubbard and Dash and other newly elected members will be inducted into office on February 25.

Campaigning for student government at Davidson is a relatively low-key affair, with a $25 spending limit. Hubbard sent out a lot of e-mail appeals for support - which were free - and spent his funds on campaign fliers to post on walls. Dash went door-to-door visiting first-year students, and spent his allotted funds for sidewalk chalk to put his name in front of students strolling the grounds.

Hubbard served as president of his Poly Prep Country Day high school, and was a Davidson SGA senator during his sophomore year. He did not serve during this past fall term because he was studying abroad in Italy.

Dash, a political science major also engaged in premedical studies, served on the student government executive board all four years he was enrolled at Spring Valley High. He was a first-year senator at Davidson last year, and served on the SGA Student Life Committee. He served this past year as chair of the Elections Council, and helped create an ad hoc diversity committee. As vice president he wants to continue working on diversity initiatives such as the planned multicultural center, and to review SGA by-laws and create an SGA Web site.

Though neither of Hubbard's parents is a Davidson grad, all three of their sons will be. Kevin followed his brother Jack '06 to Davidson, and is followed by their sibling, Connor '13.

Dash investigated Davidson after it was suggested by a guidance counselor at his high school. "It wasn't my top choice at first, but on a campus visit I fell in love with all the happy people and smiling faces I saw here," he said.

He enjoyed his first-year experience so much that he spent last summer on campus as a counselor for the college's July Experience academic summer program.

Both Hubbard and Dash said they believe in the power of politics and might consider running for public office in the future. Hubbard said, "It's pertinent to our lives every day. It affects the economy, health care, and all the bounds in which our society operates."

Dash said, "I want to understand more about how the system works, and would be proud to end up offering improvements to better the lives of Americans."

Davidson is a highly selective independent liberal arts college for 1,800 students located 20 minutes north of Charlotte in Davidson, N.C. Since its establishment in 1837 by Presbyterians, the college has graduated 23 Rhodes Scholars and is consistently regarded as one of the top liberal arts colleges in the country. Through The Davidson Trust, the college became the first liberal arts institution in the nation to replace loans with grants in all financial aid packages, giving all students the opportunity to graduate debt-free. Davidson competes in NCAA athletics at the Division I level, and a longstanding Honor Code is central to student life at the college.
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