Kylee Hower still remembers the day she asked Matthew Phan to be her running mate in her bid to become the 2024-2025 Student Body President. 

“We were driving to go visit the Child Development Center on a golf cart — and I can’t drive a golf cart to save my life,” Hower said. “So I probably almost killed us at least a couple of times.” 

As she drove the cart “like a maniac,” as Hower put it, Phan was sitting on the back of the golf cart, and current Student Body President Jia Wen Wang sat in the passenger seat. 

Hower recalled hollering over her shoulder to Phan, “I think that we’d make a great pair.” 

Phan said he replied, “I need a little time to think about it.” 

Phan said that he was waiting to hear back about an internship at the time, which kept him from responding immediately. 

“When we went to Topeka for higher education day, (I was) like, ‘You know what, I’m going to go fully into it, I want to run with you,’” Phan said. 

Looking back on her time as student body president, Hower said she’s proud of her and Phan’s move to better the culture within the Student Government Association office. 

“Coming into SGA freshman year, it was kind of a different vibe,” Hower said.

Hower started her career in SGA her freshman year as a senator, and then became Speaker of the Senate in May 2023 after the position was vacated following sexual harassment allegations against the former speaker. 

In an interview with The Sunflower during her and Phan’s presidential campaign, Hower said, “One of my biggest goals as speaker was to just make sure that the senators felt safe speaking on issues, felt safe in those spaces, and just kind of cultivating an inclusive environment in the senate. Because without a diverse senate, you have a weak government.” 

Hower was elected president for her junior year, following her time as speaker. In her presidential term, she worked to change the culture surrounding SGA, both inside and out. 

“It felt kind of intense at times (in the beginning), and I think I’m really happy to say that we were able to put a lot of differences aside,” Hower said. 

When asked whether there was anything she would change about her time in office, Hower said, “Honestly, I don’t have a ton of regrets about the term. I’m proud of the things that we were able to accomplish, and proud of the relationships and the culture that we were able to build around that space.” 

Hower said she was content with the outreach to students that she and Phan had worked on, but added, “I think there’s always room to reach more people and connect more.” 

Phan said his fondest memories with Hower were their trips to Kansas Board of Regents meetings. 

“So we always go together and just drive down and we just chat the whole time, get to know each other a lot more throughout that process,” Phan said. 

Those conversations carried throughout the Hower-Phan administration and into this year. Phan now serves as Speaker of the Student Senate. 

“We talk to each other like every day about different meetings we had,” Phan said. 

Now that Hower’s administration and her time in SGA overall have come to an end, she said her life has slowed down. 

“A lot more free time,” Hower said. “I think it’s also been — I don’t know, it’s hard to go from being so heavily involved in something to not being in it at all and like quitting it cold turkey.” 

Although Hower still keeps in touch with current SGA members, she said it’s mostly friendly. 

“I still talk to Jia Wen (Wang, current Student Body President) and Amy (Nguyen, current Vice President) and Matthew quite a lot, and they keep me updated on things, and I’ll give them my opinion here and there,” Hower said. 

As far as Wang’s presidency, Hower said, “I would say we’re done transitioning. I think she’s got total, she’s — she’s killing the game.” 

Wang said she understood most public aspects of being president going into her current position, but Hower helped her understand the day-to-day activities that the public doesn’t always see. From meetings with cabinet members to student organizations, Hower helped Wang get used to the new position. 

“There was a period of time where we just kind of sat down together and went through everything,” Wang said. “Literally hour-by-hour calendars.” 

During Hower’s presidency, Wang served as the student body treasurer, which made the transition easier due to the two already knowing each other. 

Although Wang and Nguyen were part of the Hower-Phan administration’s cabinet, Wang said she purposefully waited until after the election ended to start asking for advice from Hower. 

“For me, I wanted to make sure I established clear boundaries,” Wang said. “I was campaigning since January, but I still took an oath to be the treasurer, so in the SGA office and spaces like this, I wasn’t asking Kylee for guidance. I just think it wasn’t ethical.” 

Even though the Wang-Nguyen campaign ran unopposed, Wang still wanted to refrain from “taking advantage of (her) current position.” 

Hower decided to leave SGA because she only has one semester of school left, while SGA positions last for the entire academic year. 

“I didn’t want to commit myself to something that I wasn’t going to be able to finish,” Hower said. “But also, I just felt like it was a good time for me to leave and stop serving in a physical capacity.” 

Hower now works in the Student Engagement & Belonging office, which is just next door to the SGA office. 

Phan admitted it was weird not having Hower in the SGA office anymore, but quickly added, “but she’s just right next door.”