Newly elected leaders hope to lead the university to a spirit of gratitude. After attending a leadership retreat the weekend of April 14, Daniel Kim, next year’s student body president, and the newly formed Student Leadership Council now share the same vision for a year-long theme of gratitude.

New students have joined the student leadership council after April’s various elections. Tori Conover and Daniel Kim will lead the council as the student body presidents.

Drew Williquette and Katie Albert will oversee the intersociety council, Natalie Larsen will serve as the event coordinator, Kameron Hamedi will represent student organizations.

Bradley Shepard will serve as the new director of the Community Service Council, Joel Bauman and Emily-Rose Zhou will represent the senior class, Josh Brandt will serve as treasurer and Ian Dyke will serve as the team’s communication director.

The new SLC’s first decision was setting their gratitude theme for next year, which will be worked out through student body chapels as well as other events throughout the year.

Conover said she and Kim chose the theme to respond to issues they saw in some members of the student body, specifically an entitlement mentality. “Unfortunately, I see a lot of it on campus and in my own life, too,” Conover said.

Conover said gratitude is a weapon against many of the problems in the student body.

“It’s a heart attitude that replaces or battles against the sin issues that we deal with,” Conover said. Kim spoke of gratitude as a blessing. “If we’re bitter, and we thank God, bitterness just melts,” Kim said.

Kim said the main passage he was looking at in relation to the theme is 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, which commands believers to continually be joyful, pray and give thanks.

He recalled his father preaching from this passage as a kid. “A lesson in the past is creeping back now,” Kim said.

While the theme originates from the SLC, other student organizations, will be encouraged to adopt the theme as well.