Campus Life Chair Sikander Mateen won the Student Senate Vice-Presidency with a majority vote.
The previous VP had resigned in late September, and Senate was unable to approve either of the two candidates at the Oct. 10 meeting. Mateen was elected interim VP in the meantime.
At the Oct. 19 meeting the senators had an open discussion about appointing the new Vice President while also talking about the bylaws and lack of updates made each year.
“Almost every election the Senate has had to suspend the bylaws just so people would consider running,” Health and Wellness Chair Abigail King said.
In the end, the senators appointed Mateen as the new Vice President with a majority vote.
The senate spent the rest of the meeting discussing the comments received from their ‘Comment for a Cupcake’ event, which allows students to make an anonymous comment about anything that they are excited, concerned, confused, or happy about on campus, in exchange for a free cupcake.
‘Comment for a Cupcake’ sparked some discussion about dining services, including ideas to extend the breakfast or dinner hours for the Hard Knox Cafe and the possibility of letting students use meal swipes at the C-store on the weekends.
Common complaints expressed were concerns about safety and accessibility on campus. Some students showed concern in the ‘Comment for a Cupcake’ form that they felt the campus was not safe during certain times of the day, as well as feeling that the SMC should be open for twenty-four hours each day. The senators discussed expressing the issue of safety to Campus Security, but would not be able to keep the SMC open all night due to safety reasons.
Students were also unhappy with the lack of accessibility on campus, including the lack of usable elevators. Particularly in Seymour Library, with one comment saying, “Half the campus is inaccessible.” The senators noted that the library’s elevator is in fact usable but requires someone to ask to use it.
The Student Senate holds a public General Assembly every two weeks at 7pm in Taylor Lounge.
