Written by Gabrielle Olivia Pruitt
Unless Serbian, Nikola Arežina may not be the most common name, but it certainly is a name that Harding University students are hearing more around campus.
Nik Arežina is the new Student Association vice president, and he said he is excited to assist Jordan Stanley, the newly-promoted president.
Since SA President Bryan Clifton stepped down from his position and withdrew from the university, the SA has been working to pick up the pieces and continue serving the student body.
Elected Vice President Jordan Stanleyofficiallytook overthe reins and become the new president for the remainder of the school year after Clifton formally withdrew. That, however, left the vice president position vacant.
Article IV of theHarding SAconstitution states that the vice president fills the office of the president when necessary. Article VI then addresses how the vacated office of vice president is to be filled. The instructions are vague in this area, according to Stanley, but after discussing the issue with other SA members and the sponsors, it was decided that the most efficient way of filling the vacancy was to hold a special election with the SA officers.
“Since SA representatives are elected by students, we felt that this election would serve as the most accurate way to reflect student voice in this election without opening it to the entire campus,” Stanley said. “We decided against the latter because an online vote would have lead to an additional delay in an already abbreviated term.”
This needed to be a person who has been passionate about helping with SA activities but not someone already on the council because his or her position would be empty and then have to be filled as well.
Enter: Nik Arežina. Texas-native Arežina has participated in SA events from midnight breakfasts to helping with the ice-skating rink event on the front lawn to raising money for Haiti. He also attends all the meetings and jumps at any opportunity to do more.
“Nik is an energetic and involved student who never knows a stranger and always has a smile,” said SA sponsor Jimmy Huff of the new vice president. “He has shown himself to be a talented, hard worker.”
Arežina has worked with the SA mostly behind the scenes this year. This was satisfying for him, so he said he felt no desire to run for an elected office. However, he always has had a desire to “be in the mix” in whatever capacity available, he said.
Clifton was the main motivation for Arežina’s involvement on campus, Arežina said. He met Arežina at church while promoting Harding University, and from the day Arežina arrived on campus, Clifton worked closely with him to make sure he participates as much as possible.
As well as the SA, Arežina has been a part of the Multicultural Student Action Committee, finance committee, Business Information Technology Students, Aramark Committee, Bisons for Christ Executive Committee, the Roosevelt Institute and the Rugby team. He currently is employed by DormNet.
Arežina described his feelings about his new office “in two word: blown away.”
Arežina led the SA meeting Tuesday, March 2, since Stanley was unable to attend. Several plans were discussed including theMANA projecton campus after spring break, the Harding World Cup event in April and another open SA forum to hear directly from students.
As for running for office in the future, Arežina said he and his family have been praying about the possibility. No concrete decision has been made yet, he said, but he believes it would be incredible to serve as president of the student body. He said he feels “very in-tuned” to the needs of the Harding community, as well as the interests that extend beyond the campus.
“We’ll see what the Lord has in store for the next month or two,” he said.
For now, Arežina will focus on the task at hand – serving as vice president of the student body.
“Nik will do a great job in the vice president position, and I look forward to working closely with him for the remainder of the semester,” Stanley said.
Gabrielle Pruitt is the SA’s sophomore women’s representative.
