Wright State students elected to top two positions with Ohio Student Government Association

Wright State students Spencer Brannon and Jonas Kiessling hold the two top leadership positions in the Ohio Student Government Association.

Two Wright State University students will soon represent one of the largest constituencies in Ohio: more than 300,000 college students.

Jonas Kiessling and Spencer Brannon are the new respective chairman and vice chairman, executive director of government affairs for the Ohio Student Government Association (OSGA). Experienced leaders on Wright State’s campus, the pair plan to tackle college affordability and reach out to more students from two-year colleges, among other goals.

Kiessling, the new chairman of the OSGA, is no stranger to leadership. At Wright State he currently serves as a peer instructor with the First Year Seminar class and president of the College of Liberal Arts Dean’s Student Advisory Board. He is also a president’s ambassador and a member of the Model U.N. team.

Brannon is the current chief of staff for student government, the vice president of the Economics Club and also a member of the Model U.N. Both students relish the chance to further student engagement and champion student issues on the state level.

“I’m looking forward to working more with people in the Statehouse, taking in those eye-opening, behind-the-scenes processes and being able to represent the little guy,” said Brannon. “In our new positions, we’ll represent over 300,000 little guys.”

For the last four years, Wright State students have held the top position with the OSGA. Two students from one university occupying the top two positions is also unique. Though they are both from Wright State, Kiessling said he and Brannon plan to apply an inclusive attitude to their new positions.

“We want to stabilize the foundation for OSGA by making sure that every school has a voice. We will be representing one of the largest groups of voters in Ohio,” said Kiessling.

The OSGA holds two conferences a year. Brannon said the hot button issues at the fall conference included student trustee rights, college affordability and financial literacy for students.

Traditionally, the OSGA has represented students from 14 public, four-year universities, but Kiessling and Brannon would like to change that.

“The spring conference will be a statewide affair, but we’re also trying to organize a few regional conferences that we hope will enable us to engage more students from community colleges,” said Kiessling. “Those small colleges have a growing number of students who transition from their two-year colleges to the four-year universities, so it’s important that we consider their interests moving forward.”

Visit http://www.wsusg.com/ to learn more about Wright State Student Government and meet OSGA members on campus.