Their campaign slogan was “Win the Day.” But for one outgoing ASWSU presidential duo about to graduate, it’s time to change that motto.

“We’ll change it to ‘Won the day,’” Vice President Kevin Massimino said.

Massimino and President Taylor Hennessey now reflect on their journey serving as a voice for Cougs across the state. From establishing a temporary student veterans center to hearing student ideas through Twitter, both Hennessey and Massimino view this year’s ASWSU as a multi-group effort.

“It wasn’t just Taylor, it wasn’t just me, it wasn’t just this office, it was senate, it was our administration and support staff within student involvement,” Massimino said.

Holland Library is not just a place to read books anymore; it’s now a place student veterans can call home. For nearly five months, the 43^rd ASWSU Senate, Student Veterans Committee and a host of advocacy groups worked with university administration to solidify a spot on campus to construct a temporary veterans center.

“Any administration wants to leave something that lasts longer than them,” Massimino said. “The veterans center will undoubtedly do that.”

ASWSU sponsored the first off-campus Green Bike station in March. The expansion of environmentally friendly bicycles to locations such as Ruby Street Park is another accomplishment Hennessey said he is proud of.

Awarding students the Cougar Leadership scholarship is something Hennessey said will benefit students down the road.

The #DearWSU Twitter campaign led to 24/7 library hours during the last two weeks of the semester.

“Those are some of the things too that I think some people may not realize that were there but will benefit in the future,” Hennessey said.

Hennessey acknowledged the passing of several bills at the state level that will promote higher education for students.

“This was the best legislative year that we’ve ever had with the passage of the Dream Act (Real Hope Act), the passage of in-state veteran tuition,” he said. “We also passed a 10-year roadmap for the Washington Student Achievement Council that we helped kind of work, edit and get through to the state legislature, which deals with K-12 as well as critical transition points to higher education.”

As far as disappointments go, Hennessey said he wished the Cougar Success Program could have been more successful this year than previous years such as during the Kyle Erdman-Derrick Skaug administration.

“That was something that I wish we could have handled differently but unfortunately, the way the die was cast with some changes at the administration level, it really split up the program as it was currently written and made it really not that tangible or successful for students,” Hennessey said.

The 107 Day Plan did not have too many unchecked boxes, Massimino said. 

“We were very ambitious with our goals and said we were going to do a lot,” Massimino said. “Were there a few unchecked boxes here and there, sure but everything that we ran on and important to our platform I think we completed.”

Massimino has plans to pursue a post-graduate degree in sport management at WSU and await news on possibly becoming a student regent.  Hennessey has plans to work in politics in Washington D.C. and then look into law school.

Hennessey said he and Massimino have similar ways of thinking.

“We kind have a unique working relationship,” Hennessey said. “We’re on the same page and I think the amount of trust, it’s completely insane.”

As for Massimino’s characterization of Hennessey: “Taylor is a guy who I can stay up in the office until 4 a.m. and get some stuff done,” Massimino said. “We’re good friends and it’s been a blast.”