Sen. Athan Papailiou was voted Senate president Wednesday night, defeating Sen. Kate Jonesnine votes to eight.
Both were on the same ticket in last year’s election when Papailiou ran for vice president. But there was a clear divide in the Senate during last night’s vote.
“We had two very smart people but you have to look at who’s going to be a better president,” Sen. Neil Brown said. He supported Papailiou and cited his experience during three years on the ASUO as his reason for doing so.
Sen. Kyle McKenzie said he wants last night to be the final time he sees division between “two slates that have butted heads” for too long.
Three other officers were chosen. Sen. Donnie Kimwas voted vice president and Sen. McKenzie was voted treasurer. Both were unopposed and voted in unanimously. Sen. Patrick Boye was elected ombudsman.
Boye won the ombudsman position by 10 votes to six. One senator, Lee Warnecke, abstained from the vote.
The opposing slates were apparent during the vote for ombudsman, where every senator who had backed Jones also voted for Boye. Only two senators who voted for Boye had earlier backed Papailiou.
In other business, the Women’s Center was allocated $1,129 from surplus for a laptop computer. Eduardo Dawson was confirmed as the executive appointee to the EMU Board of Directors.