Senate continued to grow during its third meeting of the year Wednesday, appointing new members to various commissions.
The first resolution passed by Senate appointed Jayson Smith as a governmental affairs senator.
“Jayson gave us a great interview last week,” Senate President Dan Gordillo said. “Jayson has an incredible background in the political world, working for the Ohio Attorney General and being an intern in the state house of Columbus for a short time.”
Subsequent resolutions appointed commissioners and vice commissioners to the Minority Affairs Commission, Environmental Affairs Commission and Women’s Affairs Commission.
Nithya Gatla, a freshman, was appointed minority affairs commissioner to Senate.
Senate Treasurer Johnny Susany said he was impressed with Gatla, who has only been on for four weeks and wants to be involved with Senate. He sees a bright future for Gatla in Senate as well.
The Minority Affairs Commission also received a new senator, Olivia Handa.
Caden Hibbs, a former Senate member and Environmental Affairs Commissioner, was appointed to a new position. He will take over as vice commissioner for policy of the commission.
Claire Devine was appointed as the vice-commissioner of the Women’s Affairs Commission.
“We need a strong, independent woman to take on that role, and I think that Claire definitely showed us qualities during her interview,” Senate Vice President Kiandra Martin said. “I think that during this time, it is very imperative that we have leaders who are ready and equipped to advocate for women.”
Senate also appointed Knox Sarver as a delegate at-large for Senate Appropriation Commission, or SAC.
“He expressed a desire to get more involved on campus and to help other student organizations,” Senate Chief of Staff Olivia Barnes said. “In this role, this focus in finance and strategic leadership will definitely come into play. I'm excited to have you in my commission.”
In addition to the resolutions passed to appoint new senators and commissioners, procedural resolutions were also passed.
A resolution requiring all Senate members to conduct two-thirds of their office hours in person provoked much debate.
The debate was due to clarifications and amendments needed to be made about who the resolution applies to and what qualifies as “in-person office hours." In previous years, Senate members have held in-person office hours outside of the Senate office.
Minority Affairs Senator for Accessibility and Accommodation Rees Morris brought up examples of this, saying he had seen members of the Black Affairs Commission hold their office hours in the Multicultural Center and the LGBTIA+ Affairs Commission members hold theirs in the Pride Center.
The resolution was voted to be tabled until next week and voted on again during the Senate’s next meeting.
The final resolution passed added the responsibility of attendance checking to Barnes.
