The 97th session of Student Government had its first Senate Meeting Wednesday night in Talley Student Union. The meeting covered a lot of ground, with members discussing goals for the upcoming school year, diversity and student engagement. The bulk of the meeting was spent with the election of new officials into office. 

Following the Pledge of Allegiance, the oath of office was taken and the new senators were sworn into their respective offices for 2017-2018 academic year. 

The meeting kicked off with brief commentary from the student body officers including Jess Hansen, the student chief justice and a senior studying aerospace engineering; John Taylor Willis, the student body treasurer and a junior studying management; Mia Connell, the student body vice president and a sophomore studying sociology and finally the Student Body President, Jackie Gonzalez, a junior studying political science.

Laura R. Stott, the Student Government adviser, discussed the importance of each senator carrying out their duties and reminded the officials to “represent the students first” when carrying out their duties in the upcoming school year.

“This is a position, not one of authority or power, but one of responsibility,” Stott said. “Each of you represent about 500 students on campus, and their voice, so your vote matters. So use [your] voice responsibly.”

Student Senate President Mitchell Moravec, a senior studying psychology, led the meeting.

After a few brief announcements, Moravec called into motion the election of the new student officers. During this period, all of the new student senators got the opportunity to nominate any other senators for executive positions within Student Senate.

Nominations were made for the offices of Student Senate pro tempore, legislative secretary, Senate secretary and sergeant in arms.

After the nomination period, the senators accepted their nominations and each had 90 seconds to expound on why they would be the best person for each position, as well as how they would successfully represent the student body. This was followed by a brief question and answer period, led by the other senators. 

Following this, the voting period for each position began. Nominations were closed by a two-thirds vote. The senators were then escorted outside, and a debate period began to deliberate on the candidates.

Sen. Adam Schmidt, a sophomore studying first-year engineering, was elected as student pro tempore. Zac Lentz, a graduate student studying biological and agricultural engineering was elected Senate legislative secretary. Sam Chan, a sophomore studying political science, was elected Student Senate secretary and Hampton Clark, a sophomore studying mechanical engineering, was elected student sergeant in arms.

When asked about diversity, and how he would ensure and work to improve it on campus, Schmidt was adamant about working to preserve it.

“I think diversity is really important; I would focus on reaching out to students from marginalized and minority communities,” Schmidt said.

Lentz echoed the sentiment of Schmidt, encouraging all students to reach out to Student Government officials and make their voices heard.

“Anyone who wants to be at the table deserves to be at the table,” Lentz said. “I would say [to students] speak your mind and come to the table.”

Chan talked about making sure minority students know about the resources Student Government has to offer. 

“I want to focus on making sure that people know that they can reach out to the Senate, and making sure they know that we’re here for [them] and that they know what’s going on,” Chan said.

Clark was the only nominee for the position of student sergeant in arms. He was elected by a unanimous vote.

This commenced the elections; the students were then sworn into office, after taking the oath of office.

The meeting commenced with a brief overview of how legislative decisions would be made in the school year and comments by Gonzalez and roll call.

This marks the beginning of the newest session of Student Government. These students will serve in their positions until the end of March 2018.