Matt Richey, new USUSA president wants “a better USU statewide”

Matt Richey, the 63rd member of his family to attend Utah State University and a lover of a Quickstop hotdog, has been named the USUSA student body president-elect for the 2024-25 school year.

Richey won the election with 60.62% of the vote. He will be serving on the USUSA executive leadership board with student advocate vice president Sydney Lyman and executive vice president Brooklyn Ward. The three members of the board will be serving Utah State students across the state.

The platform Richey ran on for the election was, “I will effectively represent and advocate for all USU students. My goals are to support all students through prioritizing community, culture, inclusion, and accessibility. Make it with Matt!”

In the election, Richey ran against four opponents: Jake Russell, Brayden Adamson, Jamie Parry and Sarah Pope.

Richey explained how he felt when he heard his name read out loud as the winner.

“I just couldn’t believe it,” Richey said. “It felt surreal. I could not feel my hands. It was just three minutes of just pure excitement.”

Mattew Ritchey celebrates with friends after winning student body president, with Alex Garces, right, and Tanner Buttars, left.

Richey is a junior studying economics with minors in anticipatory intelligence and aerospace studies.

He is from Ogden, “born and raised,” and is the second oldest of five kids in his family.

Since starting at Utah State, Richey has been a part of the student fee board, the USUSA Logan VP committee, USUSA activities committee and the Huntsman Business Council. He’s also a member of the Air Force ROTC and serves as the National Business Chair for the Arnold Air Society.

Last year, Richey ran for business senator and lost the election.

“After that experience, I reflected on ‘Do I want to be involved in this community?’” Richey said. “And I found that because of the people I met and the things we’ve been able to accomplish, that this is an organization that I’m proud of and excited to be a part of.”

Richey started at Utah State after serving a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in New York City, speaking Spanish.

One reason Richey decided to come to Utah State is because so much of his family have attended, starting with his great-grandparents who attended when it was the Utah College of Agriculture.

“I’m the 63rd member of my family to attend Utah State. My grandparents did a count like a couple weeks ago. They were like, ‘This is kind of fun,’” Richey said.

He was also swayed towards Utah State by the Huntsman School of Business and the ROTC.

Outside of school, the ROTC and his other involvement, Richey enjoys rock climbing, running, playing the piano and watching “Top Gun: Maverick” or “The Shawshank Redemption.”

Students who saw Richey during his campaign may have questions about the kilt he was wearing and the bagpipes sitting on his shoulder.

“My high school had a bagpipe program,” Richey said. “Ben Lomond High School in Ogden, Utah. We’re the Ben Lomond Scots because Scottish people were who settled the area. And so that’s kind of like our mascot. And you’ve got to have a bagpipe corps if you’re going to be the Scots.”

Four out of the five kids in Richey’s family were a part of this bagpipe corps and can now play the instrument. Richey borrowed his brother’s bagpipes to use as part of his campaign.

“I just thought it was, I don’t know, exciting,” Richey said. “I know election time is stressful for a lot of people. But I thought it was a fun way to start it off with a bang.”

One place Richey is likely to be found is at the Quickstop in the TSC, because his favorite food on campus is their hotdogs.

“One of my buddies put me on those hot dogs,” Richey said. “I’m there like three times a week. Those are good. And the pizza sticks, $1.59! Are you kidding me? Yeah, more of that, please.”

Matt Richey enjoys a Quickstop hot dog in the Hub on Thursday, March 7.

Richey said if he were to perform at PoBev, he would probably perform a haiku. When asked what flavor of Aggie Ice Cream he would be, he tried to take the obvious answer and say Aggie ROTC, but then decided he would be Aggie Bull Tracks.

Another thing Richey has been involved in during his time at Utah State is the fraternity SigEp, which he says has helped him find a community.

“You need to have a group of people that you can rely on, that you can feel comfortable around, that you can have a good community with,” Richey said. “For me, that was SigEp, my fraternity. I joined my first semester.”

One of Richey’s plans for his term is to have his president’s cabinet meet with every dean and department head and representatives from every campus to see what resources they have. The goal is to see how they can share those resources with every student to give them more opportunities.

“One thing that all students have in common by definition is that we’re taking classes; we interact with faculty. And I think that the department heads and deans will be able to be in touch enough with the needs of their students that they’ll be able to say, ‘Yeah, I think that we could use some outreach about that particular opportunity,’” Richey said.

His goal is to unite students across Utah State.

Richey said one life lesson he has learned that he believes will help him as president is that failure is not the end of anything.

“It’s important to learn from failure,” Richey said. “Take that time to debrief, learn from what you’ve done. But keep moving. You’re going to miss out on your next opportunity if you don’t.”

Richey started playing the piano when he was eight years old and fell in love with it a couple years later when he learned the song “Vienna” by Billy Joel. He said the musician is one of his role models, along with his dad.

When Richey was choosing what he wanted to study in college and what he wanted to do with his life, it came down to two options: playing the piano professionally or being a businessman. But his plan to be a businessman has since changed.

His goal now is to be a fighter pilot in the Air Force after he graduates, which makes sense since his favorite movie is “Top Gun: Maverick.”

Richey said his education in the Huntsman Business school still applies because he’s looking at going into politics after he’s done in the military.

“That’s something that I’ve toyed with in the past, but after this election cycle — it took a lot out of me. I don’t know if I’m, you know, prepared for anything bigger than this for sure,” Richey said.   

According to Richey, his major, economics, is the more political side of business. He said he has always been interested in the impact the government has on the economy.   

Richey is involved in a number of things on campus and said he will give up what he needs to in order to go back to the basics and prioritize being USUSA president.

“Those various clubs and organizations that I’m a part of, I will still seek to support as an individual when I can,” Richey said. “But, I have a duty to my students. This is my top priority.”

Richey used the word “good” to describe the legacy that he wants to leave at Utah State. He wants to complete the missions he will set out on as president, and his goal is to create a strong community within the student government where they can work well together and hold each other accountable.

“I just want a better Utah State University statewide,” Richey said.