Nate Brown said the foundation laid by serving on the SIU Board of Trustees for the past six weeks should allow him and newly elected Undergraduate Student Government President Priciliano Fabian to become a formidable voice for students.

Brown and Fabian were elected Tuesday to the board and USG, respectively.

Brown said he hopes to incorporate a positive working relationship between the Student Trustee, USG and the Graduate and Professional Student Council.

‘I’m in a position where I have the ear of policymakers,’ Brown said. ‘(Together) we may have an effective tool to influence the board and thus influence the university.’

Fabian, who has served as a USG senator for four semesters, said fixing the group’s communication with Registered Student Organizations and students will be among his top priorities.

‘Without communication, we can’t fix anything,’ he said. ‘We need that better line of communication with RSOs and students. And with that, there will be a better line of communication with administrators and the university.’

Both winners say they plan on using each other as a tool to lend students a stronger voice.

‘ ‘When we are talking about USG and the Student Trustee, the same thing applies that has always applied,’ Brown said. ‘They can be as involved as they want to be.’

Fabian, and vice president Ashley Epps, received 470 votes to defeat USG Vice President Vincent Hardy (408 votes) and USG senator Dana Agusto (205 votes).

Brown, meanwhile, defeated freshman Marcus King by an unofficial vote of 693 to 622, said senator Dave Loftus. Bylaws stipulate election results can’t be revealed to the public until the following day, said election commissioner Ken Washington.

Brown, who was elected to the board in a special election in March to replace resigned trustee Demetrous White, said he misunderstood the position when first elected.

‘I thought I could come in and hit the ground running but it takes time to make those meetings,’ he said. ‘I’ve been acclimated to the position, so I won’t have to go through that again.’

Brown said he plans on spending his entire term at least partially devoted to coordinating discussion for students on tuition and student fees.

‘Every year since I’ve been here, we’ve fallen into the same trap with tuition and student fees and that is we don’t start talking about them until February or March,’ he said. ‘That has to change.’

Epps, who has served on USG for four semesters, said informing students about student fees and why they pay them would be a main goal.

‘Student should be aware of what the fees are and not just why we are increasing them,’ she said. ‘We need those student fees and we need some of those fees to increase. We’ll try to explain to them and let them know what is really going on.’

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