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Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Five GUSA Senators Elected

Five new student-elected Georgetown University Student Association senators were sworn in Sunday to replace those who left the senate, because of executive cabinet appointments and other reasons. The senators will serve for the remainder of the academic year and over the summer until a new senate is elected in September.

Sam Kleinman (COL ’16) is a new senator-at-large, while Jayme Amann (COL ’15) and Peter Cohen (COL ’15) will represent Village A, Matthew Mazzeo (COL ’15) will represent the townhouses and Ebony McKeever (COL ’17) will represent Darnall and Harbin Halls.

GUSA President Trevor Tezel (SFS ’15) said that the competitiveness of the elections made him hopeful for the future of the senate.

“It’s great. I watched the campaigns and I live in Village A, so I was able to vote for three spots in the current senate,” Tezel said. “It was really encouraging to see a competitive race with a lot of strong candidates, and I think that says a lot about GUSA as an institution and where it is right now.”

The new senators met with the existing senate after being sworn in Sunday, and according to GUSA senate Speaker Sam Greco (SFS ’15), they are enthusiastic about their new positions.

In order to prepare the senators for their jobs, Tezel, Greco and the rest of the GUSA administration will train the senators and discuss their goals.

“We’ll do an orientation to get them accustomed to how we operate, how we write bills, the projects we’re working on at the moment,” Greco said. “We will show them how to launch their own projects and find the right administrators to work with and get the resources they need to accomplish what they’re interested in doing.”

Although the senators will be serving for a short time, Tezel said that the amount that each senator accomplishes will depend on his or her interests and motivations.

“I think that falls onto however much that individual senator wants to accomplish,” Tezel said. “We are in the process of reaching out to see what the new senators are willing to collaborate on in terms of projects, but especially as we work our way to the end of the year into the summer, we definitely will want these individuals on anything they might be particularly interested in.”

As senator-at-large, Kleinman plans to prioritize increased free speech on campus.

“I ran on a free speech platform. It’s really what I care most about at Georgetown. It was what I cared most about at Tufts where I went last year. I was a transfer,” Kleinman said. “I, like many, was incensed when H*yas for Choice was kicked out of Healy Circle back in January. … I realize that if there’s one thing that GUSA needs to be doing that it hasn’t been doing, that’s advocating for free speech.”

Mazzeo, who will work on the Student Life Committee, said that he hopes to help transfer students as they adjust to life at Georgetown.

“I’m hoping to make transitions for transfer students easier – as a former transfer student myself – as well as to ensure that students’ needs are represented,” Mazzeo wrote in an email.

Amann will work on the Intellectual Life Committee in order to ensure that internship experience is noted on students’ transcripts.

“I hope to discuss what is hampering getting internships put on transcripts,” Amann said. “Many senators have suggested credit for internships in the past, but I’m suggesting we just get notations on the transcript. That way it acknowledges the work for the semester and is a small stepping stone toward eventually getting credit for internships.”

McKeever said her main goal as senator is to incorporate more student voices into GUSA.

“I want to get the peoples’ voice heard,” McKeever said. “I was in Darnall, and there are a lot of complaints that they feel neglected. I haven’t heard a lot of complaints for Harbin, but I definitely want to make sure that I can get those people’s voices heard as well.”

Cohen, however, doubted whether his time in office is enough to make any substantial changes, although he is interested in adding green space to campus and working to prevent sexual assault.

“I’m in a very weird position, because we just won the special elections, so there are one or two more meetings before the end of the year, so I’m not aiming for terribly ambitious goals right now,” Cohen said. “I’m just trying to assimilate myself into the new GUSA lifestyle, try to figure out how everything works and how I can possibly use my role to the best of my ability and for the best Georgetown future.

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    SmokeyApr 15, 2014 at 2:26 pm

    NOT SO TALKATIVE ABOUT YOUR ANTI-BEAR PLATFORM ARE YOU NOW GOGGLES?

    Reply