During the short 30-minute meeting, the by-laws were updated, the event food cap for green events was raised by 40%, and the new Elections Commissioner, Stephen Trusheim, was approved.
Chair Varun Sivaram made a few closing remarks and, above all, urged the future senators to “stay engaged”.
After the adjournment, Vice President Kelsei Wharton swore in the 12th Undergraduate Senate: Madeline Hawes, Deepa Kannappan, Michael Cruz, Juany Torres, Ben Jensen, Daniel Khalessi, Rafael Vasquez, Kamil Saeid, Robin Perani, Carolyn Simmons, Stewart Macgregeor-Dennis, Khaled Al-Shawi, Will Seaton, Rebecca Sahcs, and Pat Bruny.
Returning Senator Michael Cruz was nominated for Chair and ran unopposed. During a brief question-and-answer period, he stressed that he will work to make the Senate’s decision making process more transparent and broaden communication.
Specifically, he noted that he will make the committee selection process as public as possible by putting each Senator’s committee preference sheet online. When asked, however, by former Elections Commissioner, Quinn Slack, if he would allow Special Fees to keep their financial information confidential from the public (which is constitutionally permissible), he noted that he would oblige.
Cruz was approved as Chair since Simmons and Sachs were the only senators ones to abstain from voting.
Next, Senator Madeline Hawes was the sole person nominated for Deputy Chair. After vowing to improve the Senate Associates program and answering several questions, she too was approved.
This time, Sachs was the only senator to abstain.
