The GUSA Senate swore in the newly elected senators and held elections for Senate leadership positions at their meeting on Nov. 14. Leo Rassieur (COL ’22) and Rowlie Flores (COL ’22) were re-elected as Speaker and Vice-Speaker of the Senate respectively.
Rassieur and Flores ran unopposed and were re-elected unanimously. Sen. Nirvana Khan (SFS ’24) also ran unopposed and was re-elected as Chair of the Policy and Advocacy Committee (PAC).
Sens. Deborah Whey (SFS ’24) and newly-elected Sen. Joshua Bernard-Pearl (COL ’25) both ran to become Vice-Chair of PAC. Whey was elected by the Senate, pledging to bridge the gap between GUSA and the student body by creating a system for students to be informed on current PAC projects.
Both the Financial Appropriations Committee (FinApp) had contested leadership elections. Sen. Olivia Kleier (SFS ’22), the incumbent FinApp chair, and Sen. Lara Sophia Santana (SFS ’24) both ran for FinApp Chair. Kleier, who has been in the Senate and FinApp since her sophomore year, was re-elected.
Kleier plans to focus on ensuring that budget allocations are efficient and adequate, including a commitment for FinApp to run an audit of how clubs utilize funds.
Three candidates ran for the FinApp Vice-Chair: Sen. Camber Vincent (SFS ’24), Sen. Alicia Gopal (COL ’25), and Sen. Kathryn Yang (SFS ’23), the former Vice-Chair.
Vincent won the election, emphasizing his time at the previous budget summit and experience in financial management. He plans to increase the student activities fee included in tuition as well as student body and club participation in the budget summit.
Sens. Dominic Gordon (SFS ’24) and Bernard-Pearl, who both ran unopposed, were elected to serve as the Ethics and Oversight Committee Chair and Vice-Chair, respectively.
The next GUSA meeting has not been announced yet due to the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday.
