Last week, ASUO Senate said goodbye to its president Max Burns. This week, it welcomed newly elected Senate President Lauren Young.
Young, the former ASUO Senate treasurer, was voted into office by the senate on Wednesday night after she edged out the only other candidate, Vasilisa Smith.
Burns personally recommended Young in an email read by Senator Vickie Gimm during the senate meeting. Gimm, as well as a few other senators, also personally recommended Young for the position.
“I am [a resident assistant], so I have to deal with resolving conflict all the time,” Young said of her strengths during her speech. She expressed after the meeting in an interview with the Emerald that she is excited about the opportunity.
The senate president works outside of the meetings, doing paperwork as well as working with other branches of the ASUO. A large part of the job is to oversee the ASUO Senate meetings every week, keeping order and ensuring that both senators and students representing their respective organizations are heard fairly.
Last week, senators were in tears as they said goodbye to Burns during his last senate meeting, ending his one-year term. Senators pranked Burns with a fake funds request to surprise him with heartfelt goodbyes during the senate meeting.
Burns received praise from some senators.
“I’ve been involved in leadership my whole life, and I don’t think I’ve met anyone more inspiring than you,” Senator Tess Mor said of Burns.
Burns will travel to Ukraine as part of the Peace Corps.
“Thank you so much to every single person who sat on this body. I’ve learned so much about myself this year,” Burns said last Wednesday night.
The ASUO Senate is made up of 24 senators, 10 in budget committees and 14 elected representatives of different academic departments. The senate takes requests from various student organizations throughout the year for funding or to transfer money within the organization’s own budget.
Correction: An earlier version of this article misstated the numbers of academic department senators and incorrectly attributed a quote by Senator Tess Mor to Maddie Moore. The Emerald apologizes for this error, no “moore” of that.