During its first official meeting as a Senate on Tuesday, the Thirteenth Legislature for the Tempe Undergraduate Student Government Senate elected College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Senator Nicholas Haney as Senate President for the 2015-16 school year.
Haney, who was recommended by the outgoing Senate, said he wants to focus on building relationships and expanding the roles of each committee during his time as Senate President.
“I'm here as a resource for you, and I want you to be successful,” Haney said during his speech to the newly seated Tempe USG Senate. “I would love the opportunity to make you successful as Senator.”
Former Tempe USG Senate President Will Smith said one of the most important aspects of a Senate President is to demonstrate strong leadership abilities and build relationships.
“The significant aspects of the job are coordinating policy initiatives and building and maintaining relationships in and outside of USG,” Smith said to the former Tempe USG Senate. “The Senate President’s job is to coordinate and communicate with the executive team and staff.”
Another issue addressed during Tuesday’s meeting was the indefinite tabling of Senate Bill 80, which would allow the Tempe USG to recognize the Armenian Genocide by requiring every school calendar to mark its anniversary and inviting a guest speaker to commemorate the day.
Former Tempe USG President Cassidy Possehl vetoed the bill because she felt it was outside the Senate's jurisdiction and would cause more harm than good.
“While we are able to involve ourselves in controversial issues, the times that the government is best to do so, is when it has a reasonable assuredness that it will have an impact,” Possehl said during the meeting. “Commenting or voting on issues such as this one does not only create real conflict and divisiveness within the organization and larger student body, but the actions that we can take by doing so are unfortunately limited.”
During the first official meeting of the incoming Tempe USG Senate, Issac Miller, Marissa Fullford and Karis Felthouse were sworn in as President, Vice President of Services and Vice President of Policy, respectively.
Reach the reporter at Jlsuerth@asu.edu or follow @SuerthJessica on Twitter.
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