Senators at Tuesday night’s UF Student Senate meeting said goodbye to some members and welcomed newly elected members as well as a new president, president pro-tempore and members-at-large.
Following the swearing-in of senators who were elected this Spring, members elected Sen. Davis Bean as president and Sen. Leah Miller as president pro-tempore, both with 57 votes.
“I believe I have the personality and leadership strength to reunite the Senate chambers,” Bean said before he was elected.
Following her nomination, Miller said, “I decided to run because I have been in these chambers for more than two years. I feel that I am ready. I know that I am here for the right reasons.”
Before the meeting of the new Senate, senators who were not re-elected said their goodbyes, including former Senate President Joseph Michaels who resigned. Michaels lost the race for Student Body president during Spring elections.
Among the senators leaving were Judiciary Committee Chairman Bronco Vuskovich, Budget and Appropriations Chairwoman Susan Webster and Sen. Hadar Arazi, who ran unsuccessfully as Swamp Party’s Student Body treasurer candidate.
UF Student Body President Cory Yeffet gave his update of SG in the Senate chambers.
Yeffet said SG has launched a new newsletter for students, and there is a new SGTV episode about SG elections and Accent Speaker’s Bureau’s recent speaker, James Franco.
The meeting ended with Michaels giving his final speech as Senate president.
“There’s an issue with SG … this issue isn’t one of unqualified students,” he said. “We write people off before we get a chance (to known them).”
During the second meeting, 23 Swamp senators and 27 Access senators were sworn in. There are currently 99 senators with the addition of the new senators from SG Spring 2015 elections. One Senate seat is vacant.
Bean, the new Senate president, defeated Sen. Michael Christ, and Miller, the president pro-tempore, defeated Sen. Preston Jones. Both won by a 57-40 vote.
Bean previously served as president pro-tempore and chairman of the Allocations Committee as well as the Budget and Appropriations Committee.
Miller most recently served as Allocations Committee chairwoman and was previously a member of the Rules and Ethics Committee and Budget and Appropriations Committee. In February 2013, she was the center of a scandal in which she sent an email to fraternity representatives during Spring elections asking members to collected “I Voted” stickers and donate $250 to Swamp Party.
Sen. Ty Robare and Sen. Carter Long were elected as members-at-large, who serve on the the Replacement and Agenda Committee on the interview board to take new senators in outside of the election meeting, as well as appointing senators to the various committee seats and chairs.
[A version of this story ran on page 1 - 4 on 3/11/2015 under the headline “Senate welcomes newly elected, chooses leadership positions”]
Sens. Davis Bean and Leah Miller embrace after they are elected UF Student Senate President and President Pro-tempore, respectively, at Tuesday night's UF Student Senate meeting.
