Student Government fills one seat, leaves two vacant during election

The Minnesota State University, Mankato Student Government met last night, holding vacancy elections as well as hosting presentations from the newly formed Bias Incident Support and Advising team and the State Chair and Vice Chair of Students United. 

With six seats still open on the senate for various spots including off-campus senator, Allied Health and Nursing senator, College of Education senator, and Social and Behavioral Sciences senator. 

Two students attended the meeting with their sights set on one of the three off-campus senator positions. Despite three openings, only one was elected to the senate.

David Wing, a senior at MNSU majoring in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics, was elected to the Student Government to try and bridge a gap that he sees forming between off-campus and on-campus community members. 

“As an off campus resident, it has felt as if I am not nearly as much a part of the campus community as those living on campus,” said Wing in a statement sent to the current Student Government, stating why he was interested in running. 

“As a senator, I would like to rectify this predicament for myself and others by helping to create policies and events that better tie our off campus students to the University.”

The other student who vied for a spot on the senate is previous senator and former Residence Hall Association President, Frank Vondra. 

Vondra, formerly on the senate in the College of Arts and Humanities senator, was re-elected during last year’s spring election, however, had to resign due to personal reasons. 

“But now, I am ready to represent student voices and help make the campus a better place in any way I can,” said Vondra in his statement to the Student Government. 

Vondra, with a history representing the theatre program, seeks to continue to advocate for that constituency from the off-campus senate seat. 

“Theatre currently doesn’t have a voice in Student Government,” said Vondra, “As chance would have it, a majority of theatre students live off campus, so one could still focus on them as an off-campus senator.”

During the discussion and voting period Wing was elected, with many of the senate citing his enthusiasm, and Vondra was not elected due to questions of professionality. 

In addition to these elections, there was a presentation from Kenneth Reid, the Director of African American Affairs, and Linda Alvarez, the Director of Equal Opportunity & Title IX, to talk about a new bias incident reporting system at the University. 

This system was set in place after an incident where students in a truck drove around campus yelling offensive comments at various students passing by. 

The new Bias Incident Support and Advising team has been formed to give a platform for students to submit complaints about incidents that can include bigory, harrassment or intimidation that is motivated by, but not limited to, race, sex and color. 

The State Chair of Students United, Emma Zellmer, also spoke at the meeting, introducing the organization to the senate. 

Students United is a non-profit organization that is responsible for the advocacy of students within the Minnesota State University system at the local, state and national level. The organization effectively functions to represent all students that attend any of the universities in the state system.