New senate, house leaders elected, unicameral system discussed at student government meeting
Central Michigan University's Student Government Association elected a new Senate leader, Speaker of the House and treasurer during its meeting on Monday.
Sparta sophomore Spencer McKellar was elected as the Senate leader, Westland junior Patrick O'Connor was elected as Speaker of the House and Hesperia junior Killian Richeson was elected to serve a second term as treasurer.
McKellar said some of his biggest goals are to spread awareness about SGA, and make membership more prestigious.
"In the past, SGA has been able to be effective and efficient because of good participation," McKellar said. "I want to increase that participation and make sure we accurately represent the student body."
Nine new senators were also appointed unanimously without giving a speech or having an official vote, because there were more seats available in the senate than candidates running.
Waterford sophomore Jacqueline Maggioncalda, a newly-elected Senator, is excited to begin her term.
“I’m fine with the appointment process we have," Maggioncalda said. "If people want to get involved and there is room for them, they should be able to.”
There are 23 senators total and seven seats still remain vacant after the Monday night vote. However, SGA Vice President Colleen McNeely said she is not worried about filling the seats eventually.
"We will do some recruiting at RSOs and throughout campus to see who is interested,” McNeely said.
McNeely also presented a proposal to turn the SGA into a unicameral governing body, dissolving the Senate into the house so the two would no longer hold separate meetings.
In the current bicameral system, the House is comprised of representatives from registered student organizations, and the senate is comprised of representatives from each college at CMU. Currently, the house has about 100 members.
For a unicameral legislation to pass, SGA would have to vote on it.
McNeely said the main motivation for the change came from a lack of diversity within the Senate, and that she hopes that a vote on the issue could be held as soon as possible.
The discussion was postponed until legislation could be proposed with all of the necessary facts. A later meeting will decide the fate of a unicameral body.
