Student Body President

The Student Body President is the head of government of the Student Government Association (SGA) of the University of Central Florida. The president leads the executive branch, and as de facto head of state – in conjunction with the university president – has a significant leadership role in university affairs and student advocacy.

Constitutional basis and power
Article III of the Student Body Constitution vests the executive power in a Student Body President. Title IV of Statutes govern the executive branch. The Student Body President and Vice President serve an identical one-year term, and are elected each spring by a majority vote of the student body. Run-off elections may be held one-week following the regularly scheduled election between the two tickets with the highest vote share if no ticket receives a majority of the votes casted.

Inauguration takes place on May 8th of each year, following the conclusion of the spring semester and its respective commencements. The president and vice president are eligible for reelection, however, by tradition serve one term. Candidates must be UCF students, and in good academic and financial standing with the university. Candidates usually have prior experience in SGA, either as a member of the Senate or the Executive Cabinet. The president and vice president both receive a paid salary that ranges from $15,000 to $18,000 per year.

The president is vested with the authority to appoint officers to vacancies within SGA, including open senate seats, and to the Executive Cabinet – which consists of an Attorney General, Comptroller, Director of Campus Life, Director of Communications, Director of Governmental Affairs, Director of Student Affairs, and Judicial Advisor. The cabinet also includes a number of sub-cabinet positions. In total, within the executive branch are between 30–40 appointed and paid cabinet members that oversee everything from university policies to tracking the Florida Legislature. These positions are subject to confirmation by a majority vote of the Senate. The president also has the authority to call and preside over meetings of the SGA, to call for a referendum of the student body (with two-thirds concurrence vote of the Senate), and to veto legislation passed by the Senate. The Senate may override a presidential veto with a two-thirds vote. The president may remove appointed officers at their discretion, except for those subject to senate confirmation, which require a two-thirds vote of concurrence from the Senate. The president is also vested with the power to provide for the effective expenditure of student funds as allocated by the Senate. With this power, the president has the authority to suspend SGA agencies for malfeasance or violation of statutes.

The president serves as a member of the university's Board of Trustees and the Florida Student Association (FSA), which is an association composed of all student body presidents and their respective staffs from Florida's state universities. The Chair of the FSA serves on the Florida Board of Governors, the governing board of the state university system. UCF Student Body President Cortez Whatley served as FSA chair from 2012–13.

In the event that the president is removed from office or resigns their position, the vice president ascends to the presidency. The president may be impeached by a two-thirds vote of the Student Senate, and is removed from office if convicted of the same charges by a two-thirds vote. In the case of a vacancy in both the office of the president and vice president, the Speaker of the Senate becomes president. If the Speaker cannot assume the presidency, the President Pro Tempore assumes the Office of the President for the remainder of the Presidential term.

List of Presidents
To date, there have forty-six Student Body Presidents. Darin Patton is the only president to serve two non-consecutive terms. Caitlyn Zona is the 47th and current president, taking office on April 25, 2015. Brandie Hollinger, serving from 2007–08, was UCF's first female president. Two presidents have been removed from office. Miguel Torregrosa was ousted by university president John Hitt in 1995. Darin Patton was impeached and removed from office by the Senate in 1999.


 * 1) Walter Komanski (1969–70)
 * 2) James Stringer (1970–71)
 * 3) Frank Santry (1971–72)
 * 4) Steven Adamick (1972–73)
 * 5) Lee Constantine (1973–74)
 * 6) R. Hunter Potts (1974–75)
 * 7) Gary Anderson (1975–76)
 * 8) Richard Walsh (1976–77)
 * 9) Robert White (1977–78)
 * 10) Mark O'Mara (1978–79)
 * 11) Armando Payas (1979–80)
 * 12) James Blount (1980–81)
 * 13) George Chandler III (1981–82)
 * 14) Hector Perez (1982–83)
 * 15) Mark Geary (1983–84)
 * 16) John Sowinski (1984–85)
 * 17) John Gill (1985–86)
 * 18) Ira Smith (1986–87)
 * 19) Roy Reid, Jr. (1987–88)
 * 20) Denver Stutler (1988–89)
 * 21) Fred Schmidt, Jr. (1989–90)
 * 22) Jeffrey Lang (1990–91)
 * 23) Jason DiBona (1991–93)
 * 24) Chris Martin (1993–94)
 * 25) Darin Patton (1994–95)
 * 26) Mike Hess (1995)
 * 27) Miguel Torregrosa§ (1995–96)
 * 28) Aaron Scavron (1996–97)
 * 29) Keith McDonald (1997–98)
 * 30) Jason Murphy (1998–99)
 * 31) Darin Patton§ (1999)
 * 32) Andrew Cupicha† (1999–2000)
 * 33) Dennis Sprenkle (2000–01)
 * 34) Marco Peña† (2001–03)
 * 35) Brian Battles (2003–04)
 * 36) Kevin Peters (2004–05)
 * 37) Willie Bentley, Jr.† (2005–06)
 * 38) Mark White (2006–07)
 * 39) Brandie Hollinger (2007–08)
 * 40) Logan Berkowitz† (2008–09)
 * 41) Brian Peterson (2009–10)
 * 42) Michael Kilbride (2010–11)
 * 43) Matthew McCann (2011–12)
 * 44) Cortez Whatley (2012–13)
 * 45) Melissa Westbrook (2013–14)
 * 46) Weston Bayes (2014–15)
 * 47) Caitlyn Zona (2015–present)

† – Previously served as vice president

§ – Removed from office