No, former student body president and recall candidate C. Stephen Henderson didn’t win the election for governor. Nor did he make a prominent dent in the polls.

But Henderson, the keynote speaker at Sacramento State’s first campus-sponsored Leadership Summit for students this Saturday, left his mark on Sac State with lasting programs such as the Athletics and Recreation Referendum, which helped create Green Thunder.

Henderson, now a teacher in Seaside, CA, ran as an independent candidate on the platform of constitutional reform and ethical voter redistricting. Henderson, also a columnist for The State Hornet, ran for and won the position of president of Associated Students, Inc. for the 1994-1995 term.”He was a total nobody, an outsider,” said J.P. Werlin, ASI president from 1995-1996 and vice president of finance during Henderson’s administration. ” He asked all the questions, like where the money went. That resonated with the student body and he was a hit.”

Henderson brought the position of ASI president down from its pedastel, said Pamm Hubbard-Brown, director of the volunteers for the Sacramento Sports Commission.

“A lot of the ASI presidents that I saw were looking down from the top. (Henderson) was more of a grassroots leader,” said Hubbard-Brown, the athletics work team leader during his administration, who worked directly with him to research and usher the passing of the athletics feferendum.Former campus president Donald Gerth had threatened to eliminate the football team if the referendum didn’t pass, as well as 20 percent of all other sports funding.

The referendum passed, tagging a fee onto tuition that would directly fund Hornet Athletics.

His process of informing students about the referendum and its ramifications was what made him a great ASI president, Hubbard-Brown said.

Henderson went to classes to inform students about the referendum, setting up information sessions in the quad and in the library, also enlisting athletes to do an informational rally.

Some of the key issues during Henderson’s administration were the planning of the University Union, the perimeter road, the remodeling of the Quad and the United States Geological Survey building, Placer Hall.

His administration called for and seecured a non-voting seat for students on the Faculty Senate and created the vice president of university affairs position on the ASI board.

“He’ll be the first one to say it wasn’t all him,” Werlin said. “He gives credit to his team and gave credit to his board of directors.”

After graduating with a B.A. in history with a minor in political theory, Henderson served as a lobbyist for the California State University (a position funded by systemwide ASIs), but was disillusioned with the political arena after the legislature killed the reforms promoted by the California Constitution Revision Commission in the late 90s.

Now Henderson teaches at a private school, working with kids with dyslexia. He also taught in Salinas, where he worked with kids on probation in an alternative education program with the county.

The idea to run for governor popped in his head the week before the filing deadline.

His candidacy platform for constitutional reform was first formulated in the 90s at Sac State, he said.

“I was very intrigued when (the CCRC) let out its report and could see its (potential) changes,” Henderson said. “The honest work in the state could be so easily thrown away because it upsets the status quo.”

Henderson said that he didn’t intend to win the election when he shelved out $3,500 and accumulated the 65 signatures needed to establish his candidacy, nor does he intend to pursue a career in politics.

“I did think that I could make people aware of the (political) process. A politicians’ role is one of a teacher. The number one task of a leader is to interest people in the process itself, not necessarily themselves,” Henderson said.

Henderson said that speaking to students at his alma mater is something he’s always wanted to do.

“It’s a great honor,” Henderson said. “I’ll do the best I can to speak to student leaders.”

All students can sign up for the Leadership Summit at the Student Activities Office in the University Union, free of charge.