Brunner an important part of SDSU

Heather Mangan

Heather Mangan

You don’t even have to talk to Ryan Brunner to know he loves SDSU. It’s written on his face.

So it’s likely that the last Students’ Association meeting was a hard one for the senior from Nisland. Brunner handed over his title as SA president to Alex Halbach. Halbach and Kat Brandtjen were elected SA president and vice president March 1 and 2 and began their term Monday night.

Brunner has served as SA President for the past year with Tim Wrenn as vice president. The pair’s campaign slogan was “Working to create a better SDSU,” and that they did. They have continually worked to fulfill students’ needs and keep open communication between students and the administration. They accomplished many objectives on their platform, such as establishing a recycling program and obtaining funds for a new wellness center.

Many SA presidents have worked hard for the benefit of SDSU students, but Brunner was a shining star. The presidency wasn’t some extracurricular activity to him, it was his life. He truly wanted to make a difference at SDSU and he did. Yet most students can’t even begin to realize how hard Brunner fought for them, for their wants and needs.

The presidency position is what you make out of it, and Brunner used his position for good. He has worked hard with the Brooking City Council to maintain a good relationship between the Brookings community and SDSU. He traveled to Poland to create a student exchange program. He also spent several days at the 2006 South Dakota Legislature lobbying for bills that affected SDSU.

But this wasn’t just a political job. Brunner attended as many university events as he could and was always there to support the Jacks.

Anytime anything big was happening on campus, he was in the middle of it. He even gave up studying for a test to control crowds during the October power outage.

Brunner has also been a saving grace to this newspaper. He has worked with the Collegian staff and helped get the ball rolling towards a better collegiate newspaper.

Now, Brunner didn’t do this all alone. He had a wonderful vice president and senators who worked by his side, but Brunner was the heart of it. Without him, not nearly as much would have been accomplished.

Although it is sad to say goodbye to the Brunner/Wrenn leadership, SDSU is a much better place because of them. Although Halbach and Brandtjen have some big shoes to fill, they have exciting goals ahead. If they keep the same passion and drive as the previous leadership, they too will do SDSU justice.

#1.884584:3649476605.jpg:heathermug.jpg:Heather Mangan, Columnist: