New Student Senate president attempts change

Ana Devlin-Gauthier was announced the winner of the Student Senate Presidential election on March 3 during the Senate meeting.

Devlin-Gauthier was elected with 53 percent of the vote, while Peter Nyitrai received 26 percent and Nathan Martell received 19 percent.

Upon announcement of her victory, President Devlin-Gauthier proceeded to run the rest of the meeting. The transition, which would be considered by some as being far from ceremonious, consisted mainly of Devlin-Gauthier jumping for former President Amos Mainville’s keys as he jokingly held them above her head.

At the March 3 Student Senate meeting, a new executive board was constructed. Senators actively nominated their peers to run for newly vacated positions. Even former President Mainville jumped in on the action, nominating several senators for executive positions. When nominated himself, Mainville said, “No thanks. I’m outta here.”

It was a "fun" atmosphere that students claim has been fairly alien to Student Senate meetings for quite a while, a concept the new executive board is hoping to maintain.

“That’s why we want to revamp it,” Devlin-Gauthier said about the atmosphere of Senate meetings. “The E-board sets the tone. I mean, if we’re bored during meetings…we need to be optimistic.”

Devlin-Gauthier went on to stress the importance of an optimistic outlook when running Student Senate and said it starts at the top. A lot of candidates campaigned on changing the reputation of Senate as a giant ATM machine and Devlin-Gauthier has plans help make Senate more unified, including live performances by clubs at Student Senate and a pajama day.

“We have a lot of new ideas and the biggest challenge will be prioritizing them," Devlin-Gauthier added. "Even if it is not the most fun, we have to focus on what is the most important.”