The 2013-14 University of Mississippi Associated Student Body Senate was elected Tuesday. According to ASB Attorney General Rob Pillow, 908 Ole Miss students voted in the election in which 44 senators were elected.
“I’m excited to get to know all the new senators and continue to work with the returners,” ASB Vice President and President of the ASB Senate Morgan Gregory said. “It will be great to see the new senators learn from the great group of returning senators that we have.”
Each ASB Senate term lasts for one year, which requires previous senators to run for re-election if they do not graduate or leave Ole Miss. ASB senators represent either a college or a building on campus, or they are appointed by the elected Senate members.
There are 60 seats within the ASB Senate. After Tuesday’s election, 16 senate seats remained open because not every college or building on campus had candidates run for the position. These buildings include Campus Walk, Guess Hall, Hefley Hall, Kincannon Hall, Miller Hall, Minor Hall, Village Hall, the School of Applied Sciences, School of Education and the Law School.
Gregory said that the 44 newly-elected senators will reach out to those colleges and buildings to try to find a representative to fill each of those seats. The newly-elected senators will fill the remaining 14 seats on Oct. 8.
“If we can’t find anyone in those respective schools or buildings to take an open seat, the senate will vote on and appoint at-large senators to fill the seats. The at-large senators can be anyone from any school or building.”
According to Gregory, the newly-elected senators will attend a training retreat Sunday where they will learn the rules of the senate and the ASB Codes and Constitution. The senators-elect will then take a test Tuesday to demonstrate appropriate knowledge of what they were taught at the retreat. Once the senators-elect pass the test, they will be sworn in at the ASB Senate meeting Tuesday night.
After that, the senators will be assigned to committees.
“They will meet Tuesday for the first time as a senate, where we will hold informal committee meetings,” Gregory said. “We are putting them right to work, and hopefully we will have some good ideas floated around and good discussions started.”
