Six students joined the Associated Student Body Senate as campus senators after an open seat election Tuesday night at the Senate’s first formal meeting of the semester.
Madison Demotts, Wright Rickets, Patrick Beene, Reed Adkins, Christian Rushing and Josh Dolsen claimed their seats on the ASB Senate at the start of the meeting. Each candidate used an allotted one minute to present a case for joining ASB senate, and many cited their connection with and passion for the student body.
“I love this school, and I think I’d be a good asset to the Senate,” sophomore accounting major Patrick Beene said.
Junior biology major Josh Dolsen said his involvement with groups like Ole Miss Ambassadors and the Big Event will help him make a difference on ASB Senate.
“I believe that I can take those aspects I’ve learned working with those organizations and apply them to Senate,” he said. “I believe that I can give back because Ole Miss has truly given me a lot.”
Later, senators voted to pass a resolution calling for the suspension of university activities when a tornado warning is issued via a RebAlert or other official university communication and a resolution for the Senate to recognize the inaugural ASB Diversity and Inclusion week Oct. 2-5.
“We specifically picked it after IFC and NPC recruitment because we know before then many actives of these organizations will be busy,” the resolution’s co-author Sen. Leah Davis said.
Sen. Galina Ostrovsky, who co-authored the resolution, said it will serve to recognize the week as a whole instead of promoting one event in particular.
“As a student body Senate, we represent all forms of campus,” Sen. Ty Deemer said. “We have a seat for every part of campus, every corner, every person, and that is exactly what this week is about.”
Earlier, Sen. Deemer led the Senate in the meeting’s invocation, asking senators to reflect on themselves in a reading from Peter Dale Wimbrow’s poem “The Man in the Glass.”
The Senate passed the resolution on suspending class during tornado warnings with unanimous consent shortly after welcoming the new senator additions. Currently, the university will only suspend activities when the campus emergency sirens sound. The resolution offers to allow RebAlerts to trigger a similar campus shut down, and stated that it will be up to instructors’ discretion whether to resume class once a tornado warning has expired.
Sen. Coco McDonnell authored the resolution and said she spoke with Noel Wilkin, interim provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs, before bringing it to the floor.
“He really likes this resolution and is also really happy students are taking an interest in emergency procedures,” McDonnell said.
