In what was seen as a much needed change in direction, students of Contra Costa College elected Nakari Syon over sitting president Antone Agnitsch to head the Associated Student Union for 2015-16.

It was an election in which the final tally was closer than expected and after the first count of votes collected by Survey Monkey placed the incumbent up by 30 percentage points 72 to 42.8.

The remainder of the votes, tallied through Google, gave the challenger enough of a tailwind to carry him past Agnitsch for the final decision.

“With the effort I put in before the election, handing out fliers and meeting people face to face, I was pretty certain the odds would be in my favor to win,” Syon said. “I’m happy to be in a position to make changes for the benefit of all of the students on campus.”

As the final days before the May 12 voting deadline dwindled down, it was up to the candidates themselves to make sure messaging and selection parameters were explained to all of the potential voters.

Since his early days on the campaign trail, Syon’s main interest was creating a more inviting atmosphere on campus. He envisions CCC as a place where students want to get involved, not just rush to their cars and vanish after classes are done.

The first thing the new president wants to work on is the ASU agenda.

“It’s the outline of what direction the campus moves in and how students will be involved,” Syon said.  “It is important to get the organizational process underway as early as we can, so we scheduled the first meeting to start planning on July 8.”

Syon vacated his post as vice president of the Black Student Union in hopes of having a larger influence on student life on campus.

BSU President DeAndre Russell battled through his own first year in charge of a campus club and knows the trials that have to be endured in pursuit of becoming an effective leader.

“I’m happy for him but there is still work to be done,” Russell said. “Hopefully he can live up to his words and work toward creating a better student environment. Change is always inevitable, but through the change we need leaders to step up and provide more.”

Aside from his on campus responsibilities, Syon will face the daunting task of being campus representative at the District Governing Council meetings which occur once per month in Martinez.