Sen. Patrick Boye was elected Student Senate vice president Wednesday night in an uncontested election after pledging to make media outreach a central part of his time in the job.
Sen. Kate Jones was also elected ombudswoman, defeating Sen. Sarah Oaks nine votes to three with three abstentions.
Jones stressed her experience as a law student with “a strong ability to interpret rules.” She and her supporters said she was already performing many of the duties of ombudswoman by helping to resolve conflicts, interpret rules and draft petitions to the ASUO Constitution Court.
“I also feel I’m capable of managing my time and I wouldn’t sign up for this if I didn’t have the time,” she said. Some senators have previously questioned if Jones takes on too many responsibilities, and she said she was expecting the issue to come up during deliberations.
Jones also said she would be able to remain neutral in the role despite being seen as politically partisan. She said Boye had been a perfect example of how to manage the two when he was ombudsman.
Oaks said she had done a lot to remain as neutral as possible during her time in the Senate and would be seen as “easily approachable.” She told senators she would focus on improving interactions between the Senate and students and between senators.
She spoke of managing events so senators could interact more outside of the boardroom.
Sen. Nate Gulley supported Oaks, saying he thought Jones had “an awfully broad interpretation” of the job description that “might bog us down further in process, rather than what Sen. Oaks was saying as serving as a liaison.”
Gulley and Sens. Noor Rajabzadeh and Karen Trippe voted for Oaks. Sens. Nick Meyers and Lee Warnecke and Senate President Athan Papailiou abstained from the ombudswoman vote.
Boye, a public relations major, said a relationship with the media would be important so senators voices would be heard. He said he was working on a blog so students wouldn’t think senators were “a bunch of robots.”
“We don’t have any sort of conversation about what we are as a body and have some way to let students know that we’re actually people,” he said.
Sen. Lauren Zavrel said Boye needed to work on his occasional emotional outbursts, but “would make an awesome VP”
Sens. Kyle McKenzie and Papailiou abstained in the vote for vice president.
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