Senators in the Student Government Association (SGA) elected Caleb Clemmons, a first-year acting major, as president pro tempore in a meeting on Monday, Sept. 29.
Clemmons beat senators Alexis Faessel, Riley Mahon and Zarrick Plizga for the vacant pro tempore position after deliberating with other senators about the position’s exact role prior to the vote.
“I was just running because I wanted to be someone the other senators could talk to,” Clemmons said. “But now that I’ve been elected, it’s like, oh, crap, maybe I can do this.”
Before the vote, an initiative to create a new position that might assume some of the duties of the president pro tempore was introduced but did not pass.
President Christian Rangel proposed a resolution to add a new “student concerns coordinator” position to SGA’s executive cabinet.
Rangel’s idea of the concerns coordinator was a position whose “sole focus [is] the student’s concerns and try[ing] to push that as best they can,” he said.
Senator Riley Mahon was immediately opposed to the position.
“I think the president pro tempore already does this,” Mahon said, “and . . . there’s no real reason why we need to split the position in two.”
Mahon added that he thought representing students’ needs was the job of every senator and should not be reserved for one position.
“I feel like putting it on one person sort of diminishes the incentive for senators to be more proactive in their positions,” Mahon said.
Those in support of the new position, like Senator Rylee Conley, said it could streamline the legislative body’s discussion of student concerns.
“It can almost be worked or amended in a way,” Conley said, “That if there is something that a senator — especially as a freshman talking about this — doesn’t really know how to bring forward the idea that a student has given them, they could bring it to the student concerns coordinator.”
“So it can almost bridge the gap of the nervousness you feel about a topic that might be too out of your league.”
Ultimately, the resolution was struck down by seven votes.
One new position did get approved, however: the “director of Downtown engagement.”
This new executive cabinet position will, “bring volunteer opportunities to campus, outreach to downtown leaders and address things like public safety Downtown [and] advocate for better transit,” President Rangel said.
The resolution passed unanimously, and the new director of Downtown engagement will be appointed internally by SGA’s executive cabinet.
Senator Faessel spoke highly of the new position.
“As someone who works with a small business locally, I think to be able to engage students [and] their skill sets within this community . . . adds a level [of] experience that I think is essential to going out into the workforce, regardless of what you do,” Faessel said.
Other points of discussion regarded the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Committee, which added “wellness” into its umbrella of student concerns after the passing of a new resolution. Rangel remarked that the committee should now be referred to as “DEWI.”
The next SGA meeting will be held on Monday, Oct. 6 in LH 200 at 3:15 p.m. All students are welcome to attend.
