St. Libory & Davenport natives selected to lead UNK student body
KEARNEY – Paige Oltmans of Davenport and John Placke of St. Libory will serve as the next student body president and vice president at the University of Nebraska at Kearney.
They were elected Thursday and will take office April 17 during an inauguration ceremony on campus.
Oltmans is the current student body vice president, serving alongside Sam Schroeder of Seward. As student body president, she’ll represent UNK as a student regent on the University of Nebraska Board of Regents and serve as the official student body representative to the administration and public. The president also has the power to approve or veto legislation passed by Student Senate.
A junior studying political science and business administration with a public law minor, Oltmans also serves as vice president of Pre-Law Society and executive vice president of the Panhellenic Council. She’s a member of the Kearney Law Opportunities Program, Honors Program and Gamma Phi Beta sorority.
Placke is a junior pre-medical student studying biology with a health science emphasis. He’s involved in the Kearney Health Opportunities Program, Honors Program, Delta Tau Delta fraternity, Order of Omega honor society, Undergraduate Research Fellows and Catholic Newman Center Parish Council.
Members of their executive cabinet, pending Student Senate approval, are:
Godiva Kekeh of Bennington – Chief of staff
Miguel Castellanos of Lexington – Secretary of the treasury
Isabel Zaruba of Columbus – Secretary of student organizations and affairs
Jack Allen of Aurora – Secretary of community relations
In addition to the presidential election, several students were selected to serve on UNK Student Senate. This organization is the legislature for the student body, with representatives elected from each of the three academic colleges at UNK and the graduate college. There are also freshman and deciding/pre-professional senators.
Student Senate has the power to pass legislation for the campus, approve new student organizations, appoint student representatives to UNK Faculty Senate and other administrative committees, and perform other duties concerning student issues.
Those elected to Student Senate are:
College of Arts and Sciences
Dominic Marostica of Gering
Van Fasbender of Central City
Caleb Rother of Granbury, Texas
Sabrynn Bogert of Dix
Isabel Zaruba of Columbus (seat vacated if executive cabinet position is approved)
Godiva Kekeh of Bennington (seat vacated if executive cabinet position is approved)
College of Business and Technology
Jacob Petr of Glenvil
Bennett Magnuson of North Platte
Blake Hochstein of Bloomfield