Cheers were heard and hugs were given throughout the Senate chambers as a new Senate President and Pro-Tempore was sworn in.
Sen. Susan Webster (Impact, District A) was elected as Senate President, while Sen. Jenny Clements (Impact, District A) is the new Pro-Tempore.
UF’s Student Government held two consecutive meetings Tuesday night, one ending the last Senate term and one starting the new term with senators who were elected Sept. 30.
Webster said she was qualified to be president because of her experience on SG committees and as a former majority party leader.
"We need to be doing things for the Student Body and only for the Student Body," she said.
Senator Preston Jones (Access, Hume) was also nominated for Senate President. Webster won with a vote of 61 - 28.
Sens. Jenny Clements (Impact, District A) and Nardin Derias (Access, Agriculture) were nominated for Senate Pro-Tempore.
Clements won the Pro Tempore position with a vote of 62-28.
Clements said her experience as chairwoman of the allocation committee would help her in the position of Pro-Tempore.
"I really hope to improve the general face of Senate," she said.
Four Senators were also up for two separate Member-at-Large seats.
Ben Weiner won the first seat over Dwayne Fletcher by a vote of 55-37, while Charlie Brown Jr. (Swamp, Agriculture) won the second seat over Audrey Guerra (Access, Liberal Arts and Sciences) with a vote of 48-37.
At the first meeting, senators gave goodbye speeches during public debate.
Erica Baker, UF supervisor of elections, gave her report on Fall elections. She said Fall elections were the second largest UF has ever had. More than 10,000 students voted.
"We had a great turnout," she said.
During public debate, Brooke Azzaro, a resident from Infinity Hall, came to urge senators to put personal feelings aside when considering whether to override the Fall 2016 Reapportionment bill, which would have Infinity Hall represented by a District A senator instead of giving Infinity Hall its own senator.
"I believe that the students in the future deserve direct representation," Azzaro said.
Infinity representation was further discussed, as senators debated whether to sustain UF Student Body President Joselin Padron-Rasines’ veto on the bill.
"I feel like the bill does not adequately address the needs of the residents of Infinity Hall," she said.
The veto was sustained with a vote of 42-29, which means the bill needs to be reviewed further.
Sen. Michael Christ (Graduate, Access) said that the Senate should sustain the veto.
"All we’re asking for is more time," he said. "We don’t have to get it done until the end of the Fall."
Brown asked senate to override the veto, saying Infinity would be better represented as part of District A, where it would have 10 senators representing it instead of one.
Susan Webster is sworn in as Student Senate President at Tuesday's meeting.
Jenny Clements is sworn in as Senate Pro Tempore at Tuesday's meeting.
