Daniel Pae and Michael Lutter played a hard-hitting game of ping-pong in the community room of Cate Center as they awaited the results of the OU Student Government Association presidential election.
Isaac Hill and Leah Clemenson sat in solitary and chatted about Netflix in the Oklahoma Memorial Union food court.
Both got calls disclosing the election results just after 9:10 p.m.
"We won," Pae said, beaming from ear-to-ear. The room's tense silence was broken by cheering and teary-eyed hugs.
Hill hung up, calmly set his phone down and informed Clemenson they had lost.
Pae and Lutter received 58 percent of the student vote in the election and will serve as the next president and vice president of the OU SGA.
"We could not be more excited and humbled," Lutter said. "We owe a lot of people big time."
Hill and Clemenson said they were just happy to be done. They have no regrets and are happy to have had the experience.
“I’m glad we did it. It was a really cool experience,” Clemenson said. "We did a lot in the short time we had to plan it. Isaac and I did not meet until a week before he filed to run. I think we combined our people together, we combined our friends and we combined people we wanted to have on the campaign and did the absolute best we could do.”
Pae and Lutter said they are already planning their first steps as SGA president and vice president. Their weekend agendas will be booked writing thank-you notes to their supporters.
"I've done a lot of praying in the last few weeks, and I was going to be at peace with the outcome no matter what it was," Pae said. "Michael and I have done all that we can. We went all in. We even stood out in the rain. We campaigned as hard as we could and did our best, and now the journey continues. We get to embark on this new journey together."
"We have a pretty substantial platform, and we know what needs to get done. We want to first form a solid cabinet by reaching out to the student body and finding the most qualified and passionate individuals," Pae said.
Hill and Clemenson said they were unsure of their SGA futures, but agreed that Netflix and rest are scheduled for the immediate future. Upon learning of the defeat, they called their families and supporters to relay the message.
“I’m not really that upset," Clemenson said. "What I think is cool at OU is that you have the chance to get involved in a variety of things. It’s not the end of the world."
Lutter said when he and Pae began their journey, they received a lot of discouragement, noting that many believed they were not popular enough to win. He thanked their campaign manager Timothy Crisp for all of his efforts, as well as all their other supporters.
Pae followed suit, going around and thanking everyone in the room, even strangers.
"We had a lot of fun on this campaign," Pae said. "We enjoyed meeting all the students and organizations, and now we are so humbled that we get the opportunity to serve them as their president and vice president."
After taking a moment to let the outcome sink in, both Pae and Lutter fell into their seats with awed looks.
"We just won," Pae said.
