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Associated Student Government elects new Senate leadership and examines its achievements from the past year

Speaker of the Senate Tia Bakshi reviews her year in the position and different initiatives she worked on.
Speaker of the Senate Tia Bakshi reviews her year in the position and different initiatives she worked on.

Speaker of the Senate Tia Bakshi reviewed accomplishments from the past year during Tuesday’s Associated Student Government (ASG) weekly meeting. ASG elected three senators to Senate Leadership and two to the cabinet, passed legislation surrounding the role of secretary of on-campus affairs and outlined current expense requests.

During Bakshi’s year-in-review presentation, she said student concerns increased from 61 to 107 during her term and that she values the different administrators who visited ASG. Bakshi utilized her connections to ensure that both the cabinet and Senators received the same information from the various speakers. Bakshi said she created connections between senators through events like Senate retreats to foster collaboration.

“I wanted to encourage [senators] to be confident leaders, even if you’re not in the cabinet,” Bakshi said.

Chief of Staff Jack Isphording beat Senators Ryan Parker and Hunter Rode for secretary of safety and wellness. Isphording said he wants to foster connections with students and pass out more NightCaps, an accessory to protect drinks from unwanted substances.

“If I can just be a person who is there to connect [students] to resources, through my knowledge, I think that’s really all that matters,” Isphording said.

Mollie Duffy ran uncontested and was elected secretary of governmental relations. She has never been a part of ASG before, but has experience in different student organizations.

Duffy said she wants to maintain non-partisan initiatives and believes her personal beliefs should not get in the way. She also wants to work on increasing student voter registration and plans on using past Miami research on the student vote for inspiration.

“My goal for next year is for every single student to have the opportunity and right to vote,” Duffy said.

Senator Nicholas Barry beat Senator Dominic Dellapina in the speaker pro tempore election,  both nominees from the Senate floor. Barry wants to create a positive environment in ASG, clarify procedures, increase organization and add ethical communication training to offer practical advice for healthy disagreements.

“In order to be pro tempore, the number one thing is you have to be ethical,” Barry said.

In the election of parliamentarian, Senator Jackson Abram beat Senators Adam Bryant and Dellapina. Abram has previously worked on the steering and administration committee and has offered advice on different ASG bills. He said he wants to increase legislation by holding workshops.

“I’m confident in my ability to aid Senate Leadership and run the Senate,” Abram said.

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ASG passed legislation removing some requirements for the secretary of on-campus affairs. Senator Thomas Keating, author of the legislation, said removing the outreach requirement in each district allows more flexibility for the secretary.

Secretary of the Treasury Eve Harvey presented the Internal Operating Budget, which listed the requests from Senate leadership and the Cabinet. ASG will vote on it next week.

ASG will also debate a new bill to restructure its cabinet at the last weekly meeting of the semester at 6 p.m. on April 30 in the Joslin Senate Chamber.

grovergc@miamioh.edu

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