The Student Senate gave the oath of office to nine new student senators during their meeting Wednesday night.

Three hundred thirty-three votes were cast by the student body in the 2021 Special Election.

All student who ran in the election were elected, however none of the new senators received half of the total votes cast.

The new senators and the total votes cast for them are:

· Kassandra Amaya, 164 votes

· Kate Alexander, 152 votes

· Marcus Powell, 150 votes

· Francesco Romano, 120 votes

· Seth Yeakel, 103 votes

· Prabin Karki, 99 votes

· Muhammad Ibrahim, 95 votes

· Subodh Khanal, 92

· Jessica Johnson, 83 votes

“I have good hopes as a student senator,” Ibrahim said, “I will provide (best) of my (experience) to the student government and to the university.”

Amaya said she plans to work with other organizations in her new position.

“I’m really excited and looking forward to working with the rest of the Student Senate and different RSOs,” Amaya said.

Powell, a returning senator, said he plans to focus on the pandemic.

“My hope is for student government to be able to execute different problems that EIU is facing with the pandemic and I want to be able to enforce that if possible,” Powell said.

In the election students were given the option to vote for up to nine senators, meaning no senator received half of the possible votes in the election.

The senate did not meet its 14 senator quorum and was not able to vote on the consent agenda.

On the consent agenda for the evening was the appointment of Paige Thing, a freshman political science major, to the senate and the appointment of Ashley Bartley, a senior exercise science major, to the Student Dean Advisory Council.

There was no new business to address.

According to Student Vice President of Academic Affairs and Interim Speaker of the Student Senate Justin Richards, there are 26 total seats and 11 seats will be open for appointments to the senate after Thing is appointed.

The new senator orientation was given though newly elected Student Senators Johnson and Alexander were not in attendance for the meeting.

Senator eligibility and requirements were explained to new senators.

To be eligible to be a senator a student must be taking 12 credit hours if they are an undergraduate student and nine credit hours if they are a graduate student, maintain a GPA of 2.50, be in good disciplinary and academic standing with Eastern.

Senators must complete a minimum two office hours weekly, attend all senate weekly meetings on Wednesdays, serve on one senate committee, complete two diversity requirement forms per semester and attend all Council of Chairs weekly meetings if applicable.

The senate has eight committees senators can serve on; the Academic Affairs Committee, the Alumni Relations Committee, the Business Affairs Commitee, the Diversity Affairs Committee, the External Relations Committee, the Internal Affairs Committee, the Student Affairs Committee and the University Enhancement Committee.

Appointment applications are now open. Appointments are for terms of one semester instead of the one year term senators serve when elected.

The senate is hoping to begin nominations for Speaker of the Student Senate at their next meeting on Feb. 3 if the senate meets quorum.

Those interested must reach out to Student Body President Noor-ul-Haash Khamisani and Richards to discuss their intent, the requirements for the position and their platform.

Those who are interested in the position must have been a part of the senate for at least one semester previously and must be elected.

Candidates must then present a five to seven minute PowerPoint presentation that should be made available to all senate members following the meeting. The nominations will then be tabled for a week.

If the senate is able to run on their intended schedule, the senate will have a final discussion on the speaker nominees and a vote will take place. There must be a majority of 50 percent plus one for the vote to carry.

If the senate is able to appoint a new speaker the individual taking on the position will begin their role immediately following the vote.

Corryn Brock can be reached at 581-2812 or at [email protected].