Clock bells chimed Friday evening as Student Government President Colorado Robertson and Vice President Shannon Bates were inaugurated on the Memorial Tower steps.
Outgoing University Court Chief Justice Mark Hill administered the Oath of Office as the inductees put their left hands on the SG Constitution.
Bates’ parents drove from Pensacola, Fla., for their daughter’s big day.
“She has always had a passion forleadership, and she loves politics. Her and Colorado are in it for the right reasons, and I have never seen her happier than she is right now,” said Michele Bates, Shannon Bates’ mother.
Brian Bates, Shannon Bates’ father, said he thinks the duo will complement each other; especially since his daughter is an “SG outsider.”
“Colorado is very forward, and Shannon has the energy and passion,” Brian Bates said. “She likes the public part, and he likes the office part.”
Brian Bates said his daughter will value her leadership role even more because of the close results – a 13-vote margin – by which they beat their opponents.
Jeri Robertson, Colorado Robertson’s mother, said she knew her son would leave his mark on the University, but she did not realize it would be as SG president.
“It is very exciting for me because I see dreams that he has had coming true,” Jeri Robertson said. “We always picked on him and said he has the gift of gab and told him he would either be a politician or a preacher. So I guess he’s starting on his road to a political career.”
Jeri Robertson said her son and Shannon Bates both have the same passion for the University and only want what is best for the school. Jeri Robertson said the young team started working on their goals since the day the runoff election results were announced.
And she was not kidding.
Robertson said they finalized plans for free snow cones for students during the upcoming finals week and began gathering corporate sponsors for free rain ponchos in the fall. Bates said they met with the LSU Bookstore to continue collaborations about textbook tax exemptions just hours before the ceremony,
“We want to have a 75 percent adoption rate by the end of this year, and, in turn, that will save students thousands of dollars,” Bates said. “We want to urge them to turn in their book orders for next year.”
But they said the new titles do not mean they are new people.
“I really don’t feel any difference,” Robertson said. “We’ve been working with the students for the past year, and you just keep doing what you’ve been doing – but more of it.”
Acting Chancellor William Jenkins addressed the small crowd of family, friends and students about the importance of leadership during this time of change at the University.
Hill officially swore in Colorado Robertson and Shannon Bates during Monday’s Student Senate meeting. But Friday’s inauguration served as the ceremonial induction, something Jenkins called more than just a trivial symbolic affair.
“It is a bonding of two individuals taking over,” Jenkins said. “I have great confidence in our two young leaders to lead our student body. And at the same time, for them to develop.”
During his first public speech as president, Colorado Robertson called the transition by students to lead fellow students each year nothing less than a miracle. He said former SG President Cassie Alsfeld’s “gracious cooperation in the transition process” showed students their leaders will always band together for the greater good of the students.
“Though we all began this race for different reasons, our collective goal remained the same: to give the voice of Student Government back to the ones that it so dearly affects – the students,” Colorado Robertson said in his speech.
This goal set the agenda for “The Foundation 2008” campaign, and Shannon Bates said she is eager to begin working on more initiatives.
Alsfeld said she worked several years with Colorado Robertson during her tenure and knows he will serve the students well.
“I think he brings a certain level of maturity and experience that people coming in don’t have,” Alsfeld said. “He has the passion and will to serve the students. And I think Shannon’s freshness is really going to help Colorado and Student Government.”
—-Contact Natalie Messina at [email protected]