The Votes Are In: St. Kate’s Elects New Student Senators
The St. Kate’s campaign season has come to a close and the Student Senate election results are in. Zaynab Abdi was elected president, Ashley Chavez was elected senate chair, Kimberly Nguyen was elected sophomore representative, Bre Doust and Sabana Wilson were elected junior representatives, Olivia Dunn and Kira Washington were elected senior representatives, and Darling Lee, Jasmin Yangwaue, and Audrey Mutanhaurwa were elected commuter senators.
The positions of resident senator and international senator remain unfilled, because no candidate received ten votes, the minimum number needed to hold an elected position. The position of student parent senator also remains unfilled due to a ballot error. A special election to fill this position will be held in the near future.
Bre Doust, ASL Interpreting Major, ‘21, expressed their enthusiasm about working with the other newly elected senators. “Oh my gosh I’m so, so excited for this next year! I haven’t gotten the opportunity to work on senate before. I’ve run for elected positions in the past, but this is the first time I’ve won an election. Now I’m finally going to be in senate, and I see people who have worked so hard for the spots they have, like Zaynab. She’s been chair and she’s done senate forever, so seeing her represent the student body as president is really great. And Ashley is going to be such a good senate chair. I just know all these people are powerhouses and care about the student experience, and I feel like i’m going to be so empowered by everyone I work with. I’m so excited!” said Doust
Doust plans to use their position as junior representative to focus on issues like accessibility, gender representation, and making sure the cafeteria caters to the diverse dietary needs of the student body. They also want to work to increase overall student engagement on campus. “People don’t know about all of the amazing things we do on campus. Some students go through their whole school experience without taking advantage of on campus opportunities, then walk away thinking ‘I missed out,’ so I want to focus on having that open conversation with students, making sure they know about and are getting engaged with things that could benefit them,” said Doust.
President elect, Zaynab Abdi, Political Science, Philosophy, International Relations Triple Major, ‘20, is excited to take on her new leadership role. “Since I was first here, I wanted to be in a position of having a power to do change, regardless if it’s being on senate or being an RA or being a mentor. The position wasn’t that important as much as where can I start to do change, and what kind of position could help me to improve my leadership skills, help me to connect with students and better the experience of the students,” said Abdi.
Abdi joined senate as the public relations coordinator the spring semester of her first year at St. Kate’s. “I did a lot of great jobs in that position and I connected with a lot of students,” Abdi said of her time in public relations. Abdi was later elected student senate chair, a position in which she worked closely with the senate president, which Abdi said has helped prepare her to take on the role of president next year.
As president, Abdi plans to address student concerns about rising tuition prices. “We have tuition increases while scholarships stay the same. If you got the $22,000 scholarship on your first year, your second year, you’re going to get the same scholarship, and again your third year and fourth year, knowing that tuition was increased above $1,000 to $1,500 every year. This is what makes students drop from school or change schools. Tuition is one of the main issues that students are facing, including me. I had to work seven jobs last semester and last year in order to make those tuitions,” said Abdi. She plans to advocate for a system in which scholarships are increased as tuition is increased, in order to help students continue to afford the St. Kate’s price tag long enough to earn their degrees.
Abdi’s other big campaign promise is to instate napping rooms on campus. “Napping rooms is one of the great solutions that would serve not only commuter students, but also students who don’t have a place to rest if they have classes, or if they’re working on their homework. As a student living on campus, I may not understand that privilege of being able to go to my room, but talking to a lot of commuters, they say they have to nap on chairs that hurt their neck and hurt their back. We are working on having excellent academics, but we don’t really serve the needs of excellent academics by providing healthy options for students who need a space to nap, relax, meditate, or just be with themself,” said Abdi. She plans to work with administrators to make napping rooms a reality, and has already started identifying rooms on campus that could be converted to serve this purpose.
When asked if there was anything she wanted her new constituents to know, Abdi said “I want to tell them I’m super excited to serve them. I’m super passionate and I’m giving all my time to do all the changes necessary and to bring the student voice into the university. I want people to not be afraid to bring up issues that they think need to be addressed, and need to have solutions. I only have two classes next semester, so I am going to be twenty four hours in front of everyone’s face. I really want people to feel free to talk to me. I’m going to have tea and talk in the pulse to have a one on one talk with every single student. I know it’s hard to meet every single student, but I will have a year planned to meet with every single student on campus. Together we work to make change!”
St. Kates’ new batch of dedicated senators will begin their terms next fall. They are ready and excited to serve their community, and look forward to representing the student body of the university. If you are a Katie with a concern, don’t hesitate to reach out to your current and future student senators. They work to make your voice heard.
