The University of Mississippi Associated Student Body hosted its first senate meeting under newly elected Vice President Jack Jones on Tuesday, April 9, in Weems Auditorium. This meeting did not feature any resolutions or bills on the floor, but instead focused on candidates running for eight open senate seats.

17 candidates ran for the eight open seats, each delivering a 90-second speech to the ASB Senate body.

One candidate, sophomore public policy leadership major Ashlyn Loper, spoke about her goal to encourage community service among students.

“If chosen, I would like to add community service and philanthropy as a part of a requirement to graduate,” Loper said. “It would be a really good thing to teach individuals on campus the importance of giving back and really growing the community and wellness in general.”

Freshman Shane Harmon, a biomedical engineering major, prioritized proper sex education on campus in his speech.

“While the university has made an effort to promote sexual education, I know that we can work much harder towards this initiative,” Harmon said. “We should combat this disconnect by connecting with students, and at their orientation, providing each student with a minimum of three condoms as well as a pamphlet that contains important information regarding sexual health. With this, we’re ensuring each student receives information as well as tools that promote healthy and safe sexual habits.”

After all speeches were delivered, candidates were asked to leave the room before ASB senators voted on the open seats through an online form.

The following were elected:

Garrett Holland, a junior accountancy major.

Edward Hunter, a sophomore political science major.

Adam Maatallah, a freshman international studies and public policy leadership major.

Ella Key, a freshman business major.

Evangeline Ryan, a freshman public policy leadership major.

Clifton Cole Wade, a sophomore biology major.

Brady Moore, a freshman public policy leadership major.

Edward Wilson, a freshman public policy leadership major.

Wilson shared his thoughts on being re-elected.

“I feel pretty elated to be back in the senate,” Wilson said. “I’m glad that they’re willing to take a chance on me once again.”

Wilson hopes to continue tackling campus issues as a sophomore senator.

“I want to make sure that we can do a little bit more about food services on campus, maybe the timing that things are closing, what we’re offering and variety of choice,” Wilson said. “I also want to work a little bit on the health center, how we’re paying things in the health center, how bills work and what students have to pay for versus what comes out of their current tuition already.”

All elected senators were sworn into office in front of the ASB body.

“I think we’ve got eight great new senators,” Jones said. “I’m excited to see what they do.”