At Tuesday’s ASSU Undergraduate Senate meeting, the Ninth Undergraduate Senate wrapped up its term and incoming senators selected a new Senate chair and deputy chair. During a three-hour long meeting, Senator Tiq Chapa ’10 won the Senate chair election against returning Senator Patrick Cordova ’09 in an 8-7 vote. Senator Shelley Gao ’11 defeated Senator Stephanie Chan ’11 for the deputy chair seat.

Enlarge
#gallery http://daily.stanford.org/image/full/9124
Jeff Keacher

The new ASSU senators are sworn in on Tuesday night.

During its last meeting, the Ninth Senate finalized the remaining funding bills, and outgoing members gave advice to the newly elected senators.

“Congratulate yourselves,” said outgoing Senator Jonathan Kass ’10. “Be excited for what you are in store for. It won’t always be fun, but it will always be rewarding.”

Outgoing Senate Chair Priyanka Sharma ’09 reflected on the accomplishments of the outgoing Senate while also encouraging the new senators.

“In light of our obstacles, we had some good successes this year,” Sharma said. “I am very happy that we managed to transfer our zest for the Senate...There will be many challenges: deadlines, upset student groups and you may even be at each other’s throats at times. But, always remember that your ultimate interest is the student body.”

After ASSU Vice President Fagan Harris ’09 swore in the new senators, chair and deputy chair elections took place. Chapa and Cordova were both nominated for the position of chair, and after extensive questioning and deliberation, Chapa won by one vote.

A key issue on the table was prior ASSU experience. Some senators said that previous experience was necessary for the position in order to maximize on the Tenth Senate’s efficiency and effectiveness throughout its term.

“I ran for a second term,” explained Senator Stuart Baimel ’09 after the meeting in an email, “because I felt experience and institutional memory were important to the Senate; having an experienced chair was crucial for the Tenth Senate running better than the Ninth.”

Other Senators, however, believed that having a newcomer as Senate chair had its own benefits.

“To be honest,” said outgoing Senator Esosa Ozigbo ’10, “whether it’s a new or old senator as chair, I don’t think experience should be a hindering thing because it is really about the passion.”

Cordova and Chapa also discussed how to keep other senators motivated and on task. Both focused on reminding senators of their commitment to the student body.

“I would say that all of us worked very hard to be here in the Undergraduate Senate,” Chapa said. “We fought very hard and felt very strongly that we wanted to be here, and now we are some of the few that can say we are representing the entire voice of the student body.”

“We are the only fifteen individuals that represent the student body, and there is a lot of power that comes with that and we need to tune that,” Cordova added.

Following Chapa’s narrow victory, senators held the deputy chair election, in which Gao defeated Chan 9-6. Gao showed great enthusiasm for working as deputy chair next year.

“For me personally,” Gao said, “it is about finding new talent for the student government. I feel like this is really an area we need to work on as the ASSU. I plan to do this through the Senate Associate program.”

“I am so excited. I am excited about the Senate,” Gao told The Daily after the election. “I am excited about what we can accomplish, and I am just so thrilled to have this opportunity to really work with everyone to make sure that we are effective senators and that we will represent our constituent’s voices.”