Student Senate Report 11/05/20

The University of Rhode Island’s Student Senate held a short meeting Wednesday night, in which they swore in newly elected Senators.

The senators sworn in yesterday were Chris Hoover, Olivia Johnson, Angelica Tyson, Mary Henry, Emily Gamache, Annabelle Gibson, Julia Pitts, Rebecca Williams, Mike Miscia and Destiny Degnan. 

The new senators will now join committees within the Senate and start work immediately.

Campus Affairs Committee Chair Michael Bentley welcomed all new senators and advertised his committee to them.

“If you want to join my committee, you should go for it,” Bentley said.

In a message delivered by Student Organizations Committee Chair Katie Siegle, President Austyn Ramsay welcomed the new senators and encouraged them to attend Student Senate’s upcoming executive meeting.

“A huge welcome to all our new Senators, and also a reminder that if someone is not in a committee to reach out to the moderator or Austyn herself,” Siegle said.

Additionally, Student Senate did not nominate anyone for the positions of College of Arts and Sciences Representative, Off-Campus Representative or College of Nursing Representative. These positions are still vacant, and students can reach out to [email protected] for more information on running if interested.

Academic Affairs Committee Chair Thomas McGrath also said he was working with Cultural Affairs Committee Chair Bolu Taiwo on an event involving student exam rights.

“I got in contact with Chair Taiwo about doing a final exam rights [and] destress event towards the end of the semester, so look out for that,” McGrath said.

Finally, Instruments Committee Chair Christopher Bove said that his committee will likely have a bill on the floor regarding changes to the Senate’s bylaws, following a vote last week to change part of the Student Senate Constitution.

“At our last meeting before Thanksgiving, you should expect a bylaws bill to bring the bylaws in compliance with the constitutional amendment we just passed,” Bove said. “Basically, we just have to tweak the bylaws on how we elect our jurists so that it lines up with the Constitution.”