During the student senate’s last meeting Wednesday, Jarrod Scherle was elected as the new speaker of the student senate.

Scherle, a senior finance major, was elected after serving a six-semester term senator that consisted of him being appointed by Student Body President Michelle Murphy as vice president of business affairs and chair of the Apportionment Board.

Scherle was running against Alex Boyd, a two-semester senator and Tommy Nierman, a four-semester senator.

Each candidate was able to choose two individuals to speak on their behalf.

Scherle chose Ed Hotwagner, a senior math major and member of the student government, and Michelle Murphy, a senior rhetoric and public advocacy major; Boyd chose current Speaker of the Senate Jason Sandidge, and Zach Samples, a freshman history major and member of the student government; Nierman chose Dan Rolando, a senior physics major and Tyson Holder, a graduate student affairs major, both members of the student government.

After four standstill elections, the senate evoked a silent ballot where they could either vote for Boyd, a sophomore political science major, or Scherle.

Scherle won by a 12 to 10 vote.

“He loves Eastern and student government. He knows senate’s original purpose,” Murphy said, during her endorsement of Scherle.

Murphy, the founder of Panther Nation, said she fully intended as president to leave with Scherle as speaker.

Senators questioned Scherle’s ability to be impartial and continue the unity that Sandidge brought.

“(I will) attempt to make myself more approachable and reestablish the unity,” Scherle said. “We need to orientate programs that put the best people around the table.”

Scherle also said his first business as the new Speaker would be to fill the five remaining senate seats by making appointments

Boyd and Nierman agreed that Scherle appointing new senators should be his first order of business.

“He is taking the right steps until we have a full senate we can’t really do anything,” Boyd said.

Sandidge said he hopes the senate will start supporting each other more.

“There are 30 (senators) and 11 committees and no one reached out to help each other, that’s not what the student body wanted from student government,” Sandidge said. “In order to get our job done we are going to have to work together.”

Six senators stepped down from their positions, including Sandidge.

“I bring to the table a wealth of knowledge,” Scherle said. “I feel like we are selling ourselves short.”

There were 313 online votes cast, resulting in all 13 candidates being elected onto senate.

Jarrod Scherle read Aaron Wiessing’s resignation letter at the beginning of the senate meeting, but Wiessing will be asked to fill in as executive vice president during January’s Board of Trustees meeting.

Nike Ogunbodede can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected].