Student Government Association incumbents John Von Euw and Dave Pedra have been re-elected president and vice president, as announced on March 23.

Von Euw and Pedra received a clear majority of the votes, which was unexpected due to the number of candidates and platforms.

“It was a bit of a surprise,” Von Euw said. “We thought there would certainly be a run-off.”

Pedra agreed, saying he was “stunned by the numbers as well.”

Once the feelings of awe wore away, the two agreed that the results were quite humbling and serve as incentive to finish the year strongly.

“The results really showed that the students recognize how much work we have been doing,” Pedra said. “It’s great that the student body wants to give us another chance.”

Tom Mogan, director of Student Development, said that student participation seemed to be slightly up in this election, most likely due to the strength of the candidates and their ideas.

“I was impressed with the debate and each platform that the candidates presented,” Mogan said. “The campaigning was also performed at a high level – and it was done within the spirit of the rules, which is always good.”

Mogan also noted that Villanova’s student participation in the election is actually higher than many top schools around the country.

“While it isn’t typical for a particular platform to obtain such an overwhelming response, the fact that they were incumbents probably helped them in that regard,” Mogan said.

Von Euw and Pedra now look forward to completing this year with a renewed sense of enthusiasm and planning for the upcoming summer, which will bring about many changes on campus.

“We are going to be setting up for next year,” Pedra said. “We are staying on campus over the summer to start working on improvements.”

Von Euw agreed on executing a “headstrong” approach to completing the spring semester and the following months.

“This election serves as a motivating factor for this year and next year,” Von Euw said. “We are looking forward to this summer and being around campus as well.”