While upperclassmen wait until the spring to run for Student Senate seats, freshmen are already filing for the Senate fall election.
Greg Doucette, student senate president, said by allowing freshmen to start getting involved as soon as they get to school, they will be able to have a say in specific issues. “You want to get the freshmen number up early so they can have an input in what will affect them as freshmen,” Doucette said.
To become a senator, freshmen need to first fill out a form on the Student Government Web site, according to Doucette. After the form is submitted, Doucette said he will receive an e-mail informing him of the new candidate and then the freshman will fill part of a filing form, that he or she can acquire from the SG office.
He said the next step is a meeting with all of the candidates and the board of elections where the freshmen will go over the rules.
“They are basically cut loose until elections,” Doucette said.
Laura Miller, a sophomore in psychology, said her experience as a freshman senator last year definitely helped her learn how everything works on campus.
“Being a [freshman] senator last year really opened a lot of doors for me and helped me learn what goes on,” Miller, a senator for CHASS sophomores, said.
Morgan Donnelly, a sophomore in political science, said being a freshman senator helped her get to know the importance of student issues so she could build a strong platform to focus on this year as a senator for life-long education.
“It laid a foundation this year for me working on Senate,” she said.
Donnelly said she advises freshmen who are considering joining The Senate to try to get to know as many students as possible, so they actually know what the students want.
“A lot of people just tend to say they are going to do [all] these things and don’t get to know the student body,” she said.
Miller said she hopes freshmen who don’t win their elections will still try to get involved somewhere else on campus.
“There are so many great opportunities to get involved on campus,” she said. “So take advantage of them.”
Freshmen senators are valuable to the Senate because sometimes older senators can become disconnected with the current issues that are important to the student body and tend to choose the same plans they are used to, according to Doucette.
“They’re definitely an important voice to have because they’ve never been in Student Government,” he said. “They bring a fresh perspective, a fresh idea.”
