President Anna Ziebell initiated the first ever hybrid meeting of Student Senate on Monday, Sept. 28. The meeting was the first of two nights of executive appointments, according to Vice President Joe Murphy.

Ziebell briefly touched on the racist incident surrounding a group of Blugold football players and their Snapchat group chat which occurred last fall. Ziebell said she was disappointed in the school’s dismissal of the case and reinstatement of the five players. 

Senators confirmed positions including chief of staff and various commission directors, including directors of finance, academic affairs and student organizations.

Seven senators were appointed to positions on Monday. Jaden Mikoulinski was first voted to be director of academic affairs. When she spoke to the senate, she said she wanted to focus on making discussions between the university administration and students more fluid. 

“Qualtrics surveys aren’t going to cut it,” Mikoulinski said. 

Mikoulinski referenced what happened to the computer science program — among others — last semester as a reason for strengthening communication between staff and students. 

Lucy Chapman was appointed to chief of staff. In Chapman’s speech, she discussed her experience with the university due to her prior status as an admissions counselor. When asked about her familiarity with the satellite campuses like Baron County, Chapman said she had connections to the campus thanks to her time as a counselor.

Chapman said although she is graduating this fall, she is experienced and confident enough to quickly teach her replacement the responsibilities of the position so there aren’t any future issues.

Other appointees include Justin Schilling to communications director, Haadia Malik to equity in student matters director, Trenton Philippi to finance director, Eddie Flottemesch to intergovernmental affairs director and Luke Schowalter to mascot coordinator. 

Kristof can be reached at [email protected].