The Student Senate heard nominations for Speaker of the Senate during their meeting Wednesday.

Senator Katelynn Alexander, a senior political science student, was nominated for Speaker of the Senate. After a discussion period, the nomination was tabled.

Alexander said that she would qualify for the Speaker of the Senate position because she has gained leadership skills from her involvement in school.

“In high school, I was pretty much involved in anything and everything that I could be, so I think my leadership skills developed and started from a really young age,” Alexander said. “And then, when I was a junior, I joined the National Guard, which I’ve had numerous leadership roles in that as well, so that also really helps.”

She is also involved with registered student organizations at Eastern. Along with being Senator and the co-chair of the External Relations Committee, Alexander is currently the president of Political Science Association, the president of American Sign Language Club.

“I’m very organized and motivated, so I think those would be also two things that would keep me on track and accomplish goals that we have set for student government,” Alexander said.

Alexander said that though she is balancing many different responsibilities at once, she will be capable of doing her job as Speaker of the Senate efficiently if she is elected for it.

“I’ve always pretty much been involved in things as long as I could be, so I’ve had a lot of experience with balancing schedules and prioritizing things, so I think that will help me a lot, especially if I get the speaker position, because I have experience with doing a lot and being involved in a lot and still being able to manage and organize all of that,” Alexander said.

If she is elected Speaker, Alexander said she has some goals in mind, some being to focus more on student outreach and representation.

“Currently, I think there is a large disconnect between student government and the student body, and I think we need more and better representation,” Alexander said. “One way that I think that that can be started is allowing more access to student government events and information to promote involvement and to help students learn.”

Alexander said that her goal is to expand on the information that is given to the student body regarding the Student Senate so they have a better understanding of it. She said she wants the Senate to have an effective partnership with students and faculty.

She said that she wants to “help students learn about what student government is, whether they’re interested in joining or just knowing how we can help them or how they can be involved.”

She said she wants to help students learn more about student government through events that can give them a break from academics.

Alexander also said one of her goals is to increase the Senate membership.

“My second goal is student government expansion, so obviously, increasing the Senate membership so that we’re always meeting quorum so that the meetings are officials and we can get things done.”

She said she not only wants to increase membership, but also participation within the Student Senate and its committees.

“I think that that’s a really important goal because without the membership, we can’t really do our job and be able to represent the student body,” Alexander said. “Because there is such a large student body, we need to have a large student government, so that we’re having proper representation, and now we’re able to actually implement change.”

Alexander’s final goal is bylaw revision completion, something that has been discussed at previous Student Senate meetings.

“If I was elected, that would be one of my major goals, would be to help the Bylaw Committee complete redrafting the bylaws, so that they’re updated with the current student government standards,” Alexander said.

Senator Jasmine Yusef, a junior double majoring in English and philosophy, was the one who nominated Alexander for Speaker.

Yusef said that from her experience working with Alexander on the Internal Affairs Committee last year, she feels confident Alexander would be a good Speaker of the Senate.

“…Despite the pandemic and her being online completely, we were able to complete two pretty big events,” Yusef said. “We were able to collectively work together despite her being away and accomplish everything that we set out to do, and I think we did so effectively.”

She also said that though Alexander is involved in lots of different organizations, she thinks Alexander will be able to balance it all.

“If you see that she’s the president of two organizations and you wonder ‘Will she have the time?,’ she will make the time,” Yusef said. “She makes sure that the things she’s involved in, she gives her 100 percent, and that’s why I think she’d be a really good Speaker.”

The Student Senate also approved the appointment of several senators into the following committees:

• Billie Frazier to the University Naming Committee
• Lashay Powell to the Sexual Assault Task Force
• Tamia Flowers to the Sexual Assault Prevention Team
• Jason Tabit to the Student Dean Advisory Council
• Grace West to the Student Dean Advisory Council
• Carolyn Karns to the Student Dean Advisory Council
• Kayla Crowder to the Student Dean Advisory Council

Kyara Morales-Rodriguez can be reached at 581-2812 or knmoralesrodriguez@eiu.edu