The Associated Student Body passed two bills and a proclamation and elected an at-large senator at the first ASB Formal Senate of the semester on Tuesday, Sept. 1, in the Gertrude C. Ford Ole Miss Student Union.
SB 26-13, the first bill proposed, aimed to change the language of the ASB Code for the attorney general to provide interpretations of ASB legislation. The bill also provides more clarity on the attorney general’s role.
However, multiple senators believe giving the attorney general the power of interpretation challenges the checks and balances encoded into the ASB Code and Constitution.
“Only the judicial branch can interpret the code because it is a power of the judiciary outlined in our constitution,” Eli Keel, special advisor on graduate student council and faculty senate relations, said. “The attorney general cannot interpret the code.”
The bill passed, but not unanimously due to the opposition.
The second bill presented to the ASB Senate, SB 26-14, proposed changing the name by which the voting platform used during ASB elections is referred to in the ASB Code and Constitution. The bill called for the use of the term “university voting platform” instead of a more specific name, so that if the voting platform changes again, the ASB Code and Constitution will not need to be revised.
SB 26-14 passed unanimously.
The ASB Senate also passed proclamation 26-1 to recognize students, faculty and staff members who died during the last year. Sen. Paul Winfield presented the proclamation.
“I believe that this is a very important piece of legislation, perhaps one of the most important that we’ll pass this year,” Winfield said. “Every year, The Ole Miss yearbook recognizes members of the university and community whom we have lost, and they use the term ‘Forever Rebs.’ The Lyceum also hosts a ceremony at the Paris-Yates Chapel every May or April to help commemorate these brave students, faculty members and staff members.”
The ASB Senate elected a new senator and confirmed a number of nominees for various departments.
Cari Crawford was selected out of five candidates to be the at-large senator. She advocated for increased funding for the busing system to make the experience more user-friendly for students.
“As a senator, I wish to campaign for more allocated funds to the further development of the Ole Miss transit system,” Crawford said. “The current Ole Miss transit system, while it has had its downfalls, is currently in the process of being revamped, but I believe there’s more that we can do for the Ole Miss students.”
The ASB Senate also confirmed nominations for the president’s cabinet, legislative council, First Year Encounters program leaders, external affairs advisory board, secretary department, department of justice, judicial council and department of treasury.
The secretary department also confirmed Campbell Baker for the new position of director of Mr. and Miss Ole Miss. Baker will be in charge of marketing for Mr. and Miss Ole Miss. Responsibilities include handling the pair’s social media accounts and coordinating the appearance of the pair at philanthropic events.
All nominations were confirmed unanimously. The nominations are as follows:
President’s cabinet
Luke Habeeb, chief of staff
George Monroe, deputy of staff
Brady Moore, executive liaison
Alexis Ring, principal of academics
Sarah Claire Sypeck, principal of athletics
Mason Johnson, principal of health and wellness
Emma Scruggs, principal of infrastructure and environmental affairs
Ava Olive and Jack Turrentine, co-principals of external affairs
Abby Seney, principal of housing
Josie McCarey, principal of student life
Fati Bah, principal of inclusion and cross-cultural engagement
Summer Mocknick, director of accessibility
Kit Henick, historian
Evans Reynolds, joint governance liaison
Hannah Broders, executive coordinator
Elisabeth Miller, executive administrator
Legislative council
Evelyn Coon, vice president’s chief of staff
Ben Bailey, executive assistant
Lillian Prather, parliamentarian
Davis McQuirter, director of internal affairs
Paul Tusa, sergeant-at-arms
Jess Voge, events coordinator
Vivian Harrison, legislation monitor
Rozlynn Smithwick, legislation monitor
Nicky Ewers, campus liaison
Danica Beachy, legislative aide director
Zachary Rifkin, legislative coordinator
Julia Daigle, legislative coordinator
Kayt Davis, legislative coordinator
First Year Encounters program leaders
Bentley Spainhoward, assistant director
Alex Griggs, associate director
Micah Wallace
Madison Tubre
Abigail Warner
Anniston Siefert
Derreneé Coleman
Amélie Sojka
Jaxsen Myers
Kat Brubaker
Caroline Cserep
External affairs advisory board
Bebe Blalock, advisor on national research & outreach
Wyatt Eaton, advisor on state research & outreach
Baylor Bryant and Ridglea Durham, co-advisors on local research & outreach
Jose Brevil, advisor on general advocacy
Secretary department, including the new position director of Mr. and Miss Ole Miss
Leighton Hewitt, deputy secretary of operations
Hannah Polk, deputy secretary of internal operations
Sophia Jaqubino, deputy secretary of external operations
Olivia Gainey, director of Community Service
Kennedy Marrs, director of philanthropy
Julianna Horton, director of marketing
Travis Norris, director of public relations
Emerson Busin, director of photography
Ava Mize, director of executive affairs
Reese Aksamit, assistant director of legislative affairs
Addison Pohll, assistant director of legislative affairs
Ali Petrow, director of programming
Kyree Rawson, director of outreach
Campbell Baker, director of Mr. and Miss Ole Miss
The philanthropy & community service board within the secretary department
Madelyne Escobedo
Bella Cochran
Aniyah Brown
Emerson Morris
Iqra Dahri
For the creative board within the secretary department
Meredith Van Leuven, public relations assistant
Maddy Gilman, marketing assistant
Caroline Bennett, creative designer
Leah McMahon, photo chair
Emma Roebuck, videographer
For the programming board within the secretary department
Annabelle Pullen
Atuh Gang
Elijah Allen
For the outreach board within the secretary department
Lily Marshall, Greek life representative
Cheyenne McVay, international representative
Navneet Kaur, international representative
Grayson Matthews, accessibility representative
Macon Harrell, LGBTQIA+ representative
Keisy Aguilera, veteran representative
Triniti’ Crowley, first-generation representative
Aricyn Brown, religious representative
Department of justice
Meredith Dees, deputy attorney general of elections
Lydia Horton, deputy attorney general of election engagement
Keerthin Karthikeyan, deputy attorney general of code and constitution
Amaya Sukhbaatar, deputy attorney general of code revision
Sneha Vuyyuru, deputy attorney general of operations
Department of the treasury in the position of deputy comptroller
Ryder Jones
Lauren White
Rachel Hammack
Ria Contractor
Connor Ford
Matthew D’Alfonso
Maggie Criner
Tyler Stovall
Kate McManus
Eli Bowen
Gasham White
