This semester, the student senate has been looking to fill four open senate positions. These positions were filled during the senate
meeting on Monday. The positions were veteran students senator, College of Health Professions senator, athletic students senator and nontraditional students senator.
Each position had two candidates who came to the senate meeting last week to introduce themselves and answer questions from the current senators. They came back Monday, when the senators voted to choose one candidate for each position. Once the candidate was chosen, he or she was then voted on again to be ratified.
The senators first heard from the nontraditional students senator candidates. Stephanie Hansen, a zoology major, was chosen as the new senator.
Hansen, a returning student, said it was difficult to get involved after coming back. She said she wants to host carnivals for students with children and socials for single nontraditional students.
“I think the nontrad people are in a really interesting position because there is a different mix of them,” Hansen said. “You have the people like me, who are younger but don’t have kids, and then you have the 40-50-year-old group, and then people that are older than that. I think there are some good ideas to mix all of those.”
Dominic Welch was picked as the athletics senator. Welch is a part of the cheer squad, and he said he cheers at almost every team sport event, but is not as involved with the club sports. One of the concerns the senate had was how the athletics senator should represent both the team sports and the club sports.
“As far as being able to represent both parties, I think it’s kind of a toss-up,” Welch said. “You have one that gets neglected and one that doesn’t. I want to try and focus not just on athletics, but also on club sports, because that is one I’m trying to get into and trying to get a better understanding of what they do.”
Welch said he is trying to join the volleyball club, which will help him get involved with both club and team sports.
Wesley Whittington was ratified as the veteran students senator. Whittington spent four years in the Marines and worked in the Veteran Affairs Office for two and a half years.
“I have noticed the lack of unity of veterans on campus,” Whittington said. “I’d like to hold some functions where veterans can meet each other.”
There were originally two candidates for the College of Health Professions senate position, but after one candidate dropped out, Kelsey Johnson was ratified. Johnson, a medical laboratory science major, said she wanted to make some changes that students in the health professions want to see.
“I feel like I can make that difference, because I am up there with those students,” Johnson said.
She said she can help people in other health majors other than hers because she looked into those majors before deciding to go into medical laboratory science.
“I do have a very good understanding of what they go through and what things they’re studying, and I feel that I can go ask them and talk to them,” Johnson said. “We’re all in the same building, and we hang out in the same areas. I wouldn’t be afraid to go up and talk to them about what they want changed.”
Each candidate was ratified by a three-fourths vote in a secret ballot. After each candidate was ratified, they joined the senate table for the rest of the meeting. The new senators will be in their positions until elections in March, when they will have to run for the positions again.
