Point Loma Nazarene University students voted to elect 2025-26 Associated Student Body Board of Directors, and after a week-long campaign run and the election on Monday, results were released Friday afternoon.
This year, students voted on six of the eight director positions, and on the director of school spirit for the first time, which went to Zeke Rose, a second-year business administration major.
“I think the idea of it being an elected position is kind of common sense. I mean, obviously, school spirit – you expect it to be someone loud and obnoxious,” Rose said.
He said the experience of being elected to this position has been empowering because it serves as a confirmation that the student body sees him as capable of leading and that he feels a strong obligation to carry out this role the best he can.
“It’s also a call to action like I actually have to perform,” he said. “If it was appointed, I feel like it would be a little different.”
Looking ahead to the next year, Rose said he hopes to shake up students’ perception of the way the hooligans operate. He said students assume a hierarchy within the group, with the director of school spirit as the “king hooligan,” a notion that he would like to do away with.
“I think the beauty of the hooligans is the team aspect of it,” Rose said. “I think while there is someone who needs to sign off on things and make decisions, I’d like to think that I’m going to make it so that the hooligans are one cohesive leading team.”
Kenzie Lopez, a third-year dietetics major and current ASB vice president, was elected president for the upcoming school year. She said she is grateful to be able to carry on the work she’s been doing this year to next school year.
“I’ve already sort of planned a seed within the roles that I’ve had in my vice presidency,” Lopez said. “The Kumeyaay land recognition that’s already up and going, as in the process that is. The ASB Forum and student outreach, even though it was sort of a small turnout, it’s the first time that happened.”
For Lopez, another year of serving on the ASB doesn’t seem daunting. She said the motivation to attempt to continue serving on the board comes from a desire to serve the campus community.
“Every single time that I would have a conversation with a student or talk to them about the presidency during my campaigning, I was so fueled by that interaction,” Lopez said. “I was just really inspired to know that I can do another year of leading.”
Looking ahead to her presidency, Lopez said her main goal is to support and come alongside her fellow board members to lead and empower students.
“Also equipping the students to be empowered that they are student leaders, whether they know it or not,” she said. “They can make an impact, sure, of course here, but also out of these doors whenever they graduate.”
Taking on Lopez’s former position, second-year accounting major Charlie Hicok ran for vice president unopposed. He said his desire to serve in this role comes from his experience working on student senate, specifically on the governing and documents committee.
“I think that the student senate has been doing a lot of great work but it’s often something that goes unknown, like students don’t really know what we are doing or what senate is,” Hicok said. “So one of my biggest things is to make senate a more known entity on campus, but with that I have a desire to make senate something that’s more reachable for all students.”
In the past year, Hicok said he has worked alongside Lopez, as the ASB vice president works closely with senate, and he is excited to see her take on the position of president and continue to work alongside her.
“I think she just has some crazy capacities, and we are all going to be witnesses of just a really strong leader,” he said.
Elijah Lodenquai, a third-year media communication student, was elected director of communications. He said that working on the marketing team this past year with the current director of communications, Kaylee Shadburn, has shaped his vision for what he wants to bring to the role.
“Just to build upon what [Shadburn] was laying down in terms of marketing the events that ASB is putting on and doing it in a way that really engages with the student body,” Lodenquai said.
”We saw, as a team, a lot of growth in not only the ASB Instagram, but the perception of ASB and the events we put on. I just really like the way it was going and the trajectory of the student body in connection with ASB.”
He said his goal is to elevate the marketing for ASB events to further engage with students beyond social media and posters.
“Instead something maybe you can engage with as a taste of what the event may be or something more similar to the vibe of the event,” he said. “I think that’s something I want to focus on as well, putting out more physical marketing.”
Nathan Blanco, a third-year biology student, was elected director of student relations, the board position which works as a liaison between students and clubs. He said he wanted to get involved in this position because clubs helped him feel more at home on campus.
“The lacrosse club kind of hit me at a time when a lot of my friends weren’t there and I needed to find a new group of good people, and that was the lacrosse club for me,” Blanco said.
As part of the board of the Faith and Science club, Blanco said that clubs have not only shaped his school experience but have also guided his future career path. He said he hopes to help students find clubs that fit their interest through continuing what has been done to enhance club fairs.
Ayana Jade Ellerington, a second-year media communications student, was elected to the director of spiritual life position on the board. She said she’s ready to build off of the foundation set for her in the role.
“I’ve been dwelling on my ‘why’ for a couple of months now,” Ellerington said. “What came to mind was my time in France growing up as a missionary, watching a church plant flourish into a beautiful body of believers. I would be thrown into the deep end sometimes, when my father would say ‘we don’t have a translator’, hand me the microphone and go tell me to speak even though I didn’t speak French well.”
For Ellerington, growing up the child of a missionary, she said she has seen the benefits of stepping outside of her comfort zone in order to spread the word of Christ.
“I want to push the school into the deep end as well. That might look different for others, if that means getting involved more, just attending chapel or joining a D-group, I want to see that,” she said.
The two appointed positions on ASB were announced as well for the upcoming board. Joshua Hamman, a third-year graphic design student, was named next year’s director of activities and Jacob Sullivan, a second-year accounting major, was appointed as director of finance.
The upcoming board of directors will be trained by those who currently hold the role they were elected to for the remainder of the school year and assume their positions over the summer for the upcoming year.
Nicole Contreras