Student body officers are striving to fill open Senate seats through appointment and election after low-student participation in the spring Student Government (SG) elections left the majority of available Senate seats vacant. 

Only 25 out of 65 available Senate seats were filled in the spring election. Miles Calzini, a doctoral candidate in chemistry and the Student Senate president, said the results of the spring election revealed an opportunity to attract new students to SG.

“Pretty much everyone who was elected was somebody who was already in Senate, which is not always the case,” Calzini said. “I think that we did have a pretty good track record of keeping people involved who were already involved, and now my focus is bringing new people in.”

On April 20, the Senate approved the appointment of seven senators, including Bradley Quinn, a third-year studying middle grades education. Quinn said he was motivated to become involved in SG because he wants to make a positive impact on the student body, and serve as a voice for students to University administration. 

“I think students voicing their support or their disdain, or their anger or their happiness with a policy or with a proposal [is] so important considering that the students are the most important part of this University, and I think sometimes administration, and just people in general — forget that,” Quinn said. 

Calzini said four additional students have applied for appointment and are expected to be confirmed in the fall. 

According to the Student Body Statutes, each September, students will vote in the fall general election to select ten first-year Senators and three graduate and lifelong education Senators. Currently, there are two full delegations, the College of Humanities and Social Sciences and the Wilson College of Textiles. Calzini said he expects to release available seats in other delegations for the fall election. 

“Obviously, we prefer people to get elected over being appointed,” Calzini said. “It’s more representative and it gets people excited and interested, even though it is a little more difficult.”

Calzini said filling open Senate seats is essential to effective advocacy for the student body.

“Having as many people in the room as possible when we’re making decisions is really important, because the less people we have, the more that a rogue person’s opinion might get amplified,” Calzini said. “It guarantees representation, not only across colleges but across different demographics of people with different life experiences, which I think is super important, something I value certainly, and I think a lot of senators value that too … having very few senators could give [administration] the impression that students don’t really care about the voice they potentially have with the administration, and I think it’s really important that we maintain the reputation we have as being a serious organization.”

To apply for a vacant Senate seat, click here.