A heavy silence fell over the Senate chambers at Tuesday night’s UF Student Senate meeting when Sen. Michael Christ announced the formation of an independent Senate coalition.
Sen. Christ said he will be leading the coalition of 21 members, made up of 18 former Swamp Party senators and three independent senators.
“A lot of my colleagues in the chamber talk about how the Senate is supposed to be a nonpartisan place, a place where parties leave us where we come in here and just work for 100 percent of the students,” he said. “That’s what I’m hoping to do with this coalition.”
There are currently 87 UF student senators, 21 of which are now independent. With 18 members ending their affiliation, that makes almost a quarter of Senate independent ahead of elections.
Some senators, such as Sen. Stephanie Wong, Sen. Dwayne Fletcher and Sen. Yareliz Mendez-Zamora, verbally announced their party disaffiliation to senators during public debate.
Sen. Wong told Senate she left because of certain decisions Swamp made, particularly one made at last week’s Senate meeting when the Senate approved Austin Sherman as an election commissioner.
She, along with other senators, expressed concerns when Sherman, a former Swamp majority leader, was nominated to serve as an election commissioner. The election commission hears election complaints
Several senators, including Sen. Mendez-Zamora, spoke to Senate about their reasons for leaving the party. Sen. Mendez-Zamora said she was unhappy with how her party was handling Senate issues.
“There are things that can no longer be ignored in these Senate chambers,” she said, “and I believe that by changing my affiliation to the independent coalition, I can truly represent 100 percent of the Student Body.”
Sen. Preston Jones said he supports the new coalition and said he is looking forward to working with the group.
“I believe the current system fails to accurately represent all students’ interests and all students’ needs,” he said.
UF Student Senate President Joseph Michaels said he supports the senators’ decisions to change their party affiliations.
“Senators are encouraged to do what they think is best for their constituents,” he said, “and I look forward to working with all senators to ensure the Senate functions effectively.”
Four student bills allocating $7,561.50 were also passed during the meeting.
Funding for Sparks Magazine was approved for $1,700; Mayors Council was approved for $4,002.50; Arab Students’ Association was approved for $660 and Latino/Hispanic Organization for Graduate Students was approved for $1,199.
[A version of this story ran on page 1-4 on 2/11/2015 under the headline “18 Senate members drop party affiliation Tuesday"]
Senator Yareliz Mendez-Zamora (left), representing District C, announces her disaffiliation from Swamp Party to an independent. “There are things that can no longer be ignored in these senate chambers,” Mendez-Zamora said, “and I believe that by changing my affiliation to the independent coalition I can truly represent 100 percent of the student body.” Senate President and Swamp candidate for Student Body President, Joseph Michaels, looks on.
