SGA senate election fills all but four seats
Fourteen new senators were sworn in during an election Sept. 19 at the first Student Government Association meeting of the year.
Out of the 24 available senate seats, four remain open.
Electing senators in the fall is a common part of the agenda for the first general meeting. SGA President Ian Elliott said in his time with SGA, he has seen years where a full senate was elected in the spring, only for the organization to have to redo elections in the fall.
“Even in years when (we) have 24 going in, you are always going to have a few senators throughout the summer that decide to drop for a number of reasons,” Elliott said.
Newly Elected Senators:
Senators work to represent colleges and students at Central Michigan University, as well as create projects to better the community.
This year, 14 students were elected to the SGA senate, making senate count 20 out of 24:
- Andrew Zyrowski
- Emilee Madison
- Olivia Cyman
- Eric Emborsky
- Susan Brilley
- Mohammad Khan
- Mitchell Alexander
- Brendan Mantey
- Greg Pernicano
- Austin Blessing
- Amy Hoch
- Anna Owens
- Michael Degregory
- Lucas Gustafson
Some of those reasons for dropping might include students transferring to other universities, doubts about their time availability or scheduling a class during Monday night meetings.
“It is nice to have 24, but it is not necessary,” Elliott said. “The point of the senate is to have a group of students who are passionate and thorough enough to really dissect legislation as a group, educate themselves and take up a project.”
Senators are elected to represent departments and academic groups on campus. At the first general meeting Sept. 19, each of the 14 nominated by the SGA body gave a short speech and answered three questions.
New and returning members, including those of the house who represent registered student organizations on campus, cast paper ballots to support one of the nominated senators. House member Julian Rivers, representative of Students Advocating Gender Equality, said he was looking for senators who know the values of campus and the organization.
“I was looking for someone who was going to stand up for values SGA embodies to students,” the West Bloomfield junior said. “Every senator should represent the voice of the people. They should be the filter for our words, ideas, creativity and innovation.”
Madison Heights junior Lindsey Rogers, representative of the Museum Studies Club, had never been to an SGA meeting before.
“Everyone complains about it, but I was kind of looking forward to it even though not everyone does,” she said.
Outside of senate elections, SGA’s yearly budget of $25,805 was also approved at the meeting, which means the organization can fully function as intended. This money will be used to help fund committee projects, pay for phone calls and other SGA related expenses.
