Shamina Merchant and Shawn Semmler are the next USG president and vice president, respectively. Credit: Courtesy of the Merchant-Semmler Campaign

Shamina Merchant and Shawn Semmler were announced as the next president and vice president of Ohio State’s Undergraduate Student Government on Thursday. The pair received 68.9 percent of votes cast. 

The USG members beat out opponents Reese Brooks and Reagan Brooks, both third-years in marketing, who were running for the second time on a platform of being outsiders of the organization.

Merchant, a third-year in information systems, and Semmler, a third-year in finance, ran their campaign with a focus on physical health, mental health, affordability and inclusion.

Leading up to and throughout their official campaign run, the two said they wanted to listen to as many of the stories about the student experience as possible to help shape their policy points. Their slogan was “Share your story.”

A ballot initiative to call on USG to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour for all university employees passed with 4,852 votes for the referendum and 3,122 opposed.

Inauguration for the next USG administration is April 3.