Nearly two weeks after the historic New University Student Union (USU) referendum, the USU board of directors took a moment Tuesday to celebrate the result.

Sixty-seven percent of voters in the 2018 Associated Students, Inc. elections approved the New USU. Support for the project skyrocketed after a vote on a similar proposed project, the “Bold New U,” failed last year.

After a number of moments of gratitude and applause, the meeting moved on with reports from the USU board’s four committees and the Associate Dean of Student Involvement Dr. Colin Stewart.

The four committees are: public relations and marketing; budget and operations; campus involvement ambassadors and USU Productions. Stewart also congratulated the board for its work, and rewarded members with bottles of apple cider. The board toasted to its success.

“I’m excited to see how its all going to come together,” Stewart said. “It’ll be a really exciting process for [the USU board], and our staff, and our faculty, and the rest of the campus.”

After the toast, USU board chair Athena Niayesh reminded the board that things are just getting started with the New USU project. The board hopes to break ground for the new union by summer 2019. The next USU board meeting will take place on May 7 in USU 312 at 3:30 p.m.

The directors also discussed tabling, operating an existing University Student Union blog and plans to recruit students to the board.

“I feel like such a proud mom. I’m just so proud of all you guys,” Niayesh said. “When I saw the results I just wanted to cry.”

Niayesh complimented Juan Guzman, the board’s graduate assistant, for his marketing contributions toward the project.

Guzman said: “We have left our mark, and we built a better campus for future Bulldogs.”