Van Hoosen Hall was the site for a changing of the guard in the Residence Halls Association.
RHA General Assembly members elected political science and pre-law sophomore Ernest Drake as the association's new president on Friday.
He, along with a new Executive Board to be hired in the coming weeks, will take office after the meeting on April 14.
"Ernest is fantastic," current President Derek Wallbank said. "He's an upstanding individual, very reliable, he's got everything it takes to be a very effective president."
Wallbank will return to RHA next year as an assembly representative.
"I think we're headed in the right direction; I'm looking forward to being a part of it," Wallbank said.
One of Drake's major goals is to enact a policy that would create a risk-management account to be used only in emergencies. He said he hopes to bring in certified public accountants and legal experts to help craft the policy.
"The reason why I want to do this is to show our students that we're fiscally responsible," he said, adding this that move would be in response to the proposed tax increase.
RHA constituents will be voting this spring to approve an increase of $1 in their semester tax.
Wallbank created a number of initiatives in his State of the Organization address earlier this semester, including improving on-campus water quality, sidewalk conditions hindering students with mobility impairments and lighting footpaths.
Drake said he will carry over all of those initiatives, adding that he worked with Wallbank on many of them.
It will be "a smooth transition" from one administration to the next, Drake said.
Drake was one of three members to run for president. The others were hospitality business sophomore Cory Rose, the Michigan organization communications coordinator, and Case Hall representative and international relations sophomore James Hensley.
Both said they plan to run for vice president in elections next week.
Also among Drake's goals are establishing it's as more of an influence in the university community and stressing RHA's role as on-campus student government.
In addition to serving on the Academic Assembly of ASMSU, MSU's undergraduate student government, Drake currently serves RHA as director of Racial, Ethnic & Progressive Affairs. In that role, he mediates disputes between hall governments and racial, ethnic and progressive groups.
This is what led Council of Students with Disabilities representative Val Erwin to support Drake.
"He's done a great job in his current job," she said. "I think Ernest will do a great job for RHA because he really cares about everyone in RHA."
