After two days of voting, the results of the first-year Student Senate election were announced Thursday morning. The new members of the senate are Savannah Engel, Jonathan Lane, Edward Trey Owens, Barrett Austin and Matt Jensen.

Twenty-eight first-years ran for the Senate and campaigned vigorously with signs, flyers, brochures and Facebook groups.

“There were so many kids campaigning with posters and flyers,” Austin said. “When I walked into the SAC two days after I started noticing posters, I became nervous because I saw kids who were printing out hundred of flyers.”

Although Austin did have signs, his main campaign strategy was word of mouth. The four other winners all agreed that personal contact with the voters was the most effective strategy.

“I think that face-to-face campaign strategy works the best,” Jensen said. “I used no signs, buttons or flyers to campaign – I simply went out and met everybody I could.”

Due to the amount of candidates and campaign materials, all five winners were unsure how the election would turn out.

“I was so nervous the night before [that] I woke up at 5 o’clock, 6 o’clock, 7 o’clock,” Owens said. “I was at the Student Activities Center before they even posted the results.”

Owens decided to run for Senate after attending AARO this summer.

“The whole time we were at AARO everyone kept telling us that the class of ’09 would change the world,” Owens said. “What better class to represent?”

Each of the new senators looks forward to representing the first-year class. Jensen wanted to become a senator to be a link of communication between the class of 2009 and the university administration and believes that his class has students “with many talents and great ideas.”

“I will work cooperatively with the other senators, particularly the other four first-year senators, to make sure that the ideas and suggestions brought to our attention on how to improve university life will be well-represented,” Jensen said.

Engel hopes to keep the school running smoothly, and Lane’s aim is to improve the overall image and environment.

“I hope that we can transform the school,” Lane said. “This wasn’t my first choice school, and a lot of people I’ve talked to said ‘this wasn’t my first choice.’ But I want to make sure that SMU is a place that’s fostering that sort of first-choice school mentality. I want to make it a really exciting and vibrant campus.”

Austin, who has already worked with organizations such as Mustang 11, wants the school to become more involved with the community. He would like to organize a benefit with the Senate for Dallas inner-city schools.

“Not only does our endowment show how great a school we are, we’re in such a great place I think we owe something back to the local community,” Austin said.

The first-year senators will be trained by Senate Vice President Taylor Russ on Sunday and will be inaugurated on Oct. 4. Senate members look forward to the first-years’ involvement.

“The number of students getting involved is a true testament to the spirit and dedication of the class of 2009,” Student Body President Liz Healy said. “I can’t wait to see the legacy they create during their time here at SMU.”