Roberts chosen as speaker of the 91st Student Government

The 91st Student Government held its first meeting Wednesday and elected Douglas Roberts as the speaker for the next academic year.

Roberts resigned from their position as the senator for the college of graduate studies and took the position of speaker immediately after being inducted. 

The speaker acts as the unbiased and nonvoting member who facilitates meetings and mediates meetings as well as collects votes. 

Roberts expressed that they will not only help run the meetings but also support senators in any way they need. 

“I plan to hopefully get in contact over the summer or the beginning of the year and connect you to a lot of those resources and be able to guide you through more than just how the Senate operates in terms of the meeting,” Roberts said. 

With Roberts holding a senator position for the past two years, they have witnessed how meetings are run and procedures are undergone efficiently. 

“They understand how to support students,” David Mesta, vice president of student government, said. 

Senator Roshit Niraula seconded Mesta’s statement in favor of Roberts.

“They’ve been an amazing resource for all of us, and I’m pretty confident they would be a support system for us,” Niraula said. “I know they’re well versed with Robert’s Rules, and they’ll facilitate our meetings and make sure that we’re headed in the right direction.”

One change Roberts mentioned they would implement as the speaker is to move the consent agenda to the top of the agenda as well as add the approval of minutes.

They aim to help connect senators to resources so they can be successful in their endeavors. 

“My goal is to be a big supporter of y’all. I want you all to achieve your goals in the ways that you see fit and be able to give you that instruction to be a successful Senator,” Roberts said. 

Emma Zellmer, 90th student government president, acted as the temporary speaker before Roberts was elected and welcomed the new senate and informed them on some of the common procedures and government lingo. 

Paired with returning senators and new faces, the 91st student government will meet again in the fall.

Header photo: The first meeting of the 91st Student Government commenced Wednesday. Douglas Roberts was chosen as the speaker of the 91st Senate and resigned from their position as senator. (Julia Lin/The Reporter)

Write to Julia Lin at julia.barton@mnsu.edu