By Winnie S. Jean-Enard, Stuff Writer
It is the beginning of a new academic year; students came from across the world to gather here at Saint Leo University as one big family. To ensure that the students’ voices are heard, senate elections are held at the beginning of every academic year. Students will have the opportunity to vote this September 11th at the Dining Hall and the SAB Loggia or online at https://eballot4.votenet.com/SaintLeo/login.cfm.
“Voting this year will be done on a two-tiered system. Each voter will vote twice: once for an individual candidate at large, then once for a class delegation. Individual candidates who receive at least 2% of the total votes are elected to fill one of the 30 senate seats available. If remaining seats still exist, the class delegations will be awarded seats proportionate to the percentage of votes the class earns. For example, if we fill 20 individual seats from the candidates at large, the ten remaining seats to be filled by the class delegations. If the freshmen class were to receive 50% of the class vote, then 50% of the remaining seats would go to the freshmen class, and so on for the other classes until all the seats are filled”, explained Junior Corey DeHate, vice president of operations.
According to the new constitution of Saint Leo, the purpose of the Senate elections is to have a group of students to represent the student body and make communication between the SGU (Student Government Union) and the organizations.
“It empowers the senate to truly serve as the voice of the student body at large”, says Junior Corey DeHate.
The senator must serve the community and attend the meetings, must reflect self-discipline and above all he must strive to abet the Core Values of the University which are excellence, community, respect, personal development, responsible stewardship and integrity.
Being a senator at Saint Leo means getting involved in every aspect of the University. It is not only making communication between organizations and SGU, but also truly serves the community.
“I aim to serve people. SGU was the best way for me to get involved in the university”, said Senior Katie Gwynn, President of the Student Government Union.
“Being a senator to me is a major responsibility. The campus looks at you as a student leader and expects you to be a role model and one that can help students when they have questions or problems with the University or with the events going on around campus. It is important to me because it is my way of giving back to a community that has given me so much. I would absolutely be honored if I was given one more year in Senate to help the Saint Leo community prior to my graduation” declares Senior Michael Gincel, elected senator three times.
In the long run, being a senator at Saint Leo is nothing more than being willing to serve others.
