Student Government fails again to elect VP

Student senators made a second attempt this week to elect a new vice president. The candidates for the vice presidency were Senator Emedo Godswill and Speaker Douglas Roberts from the last run for vice president, with the addition of Senator Ruth Asmamaw.

“I will be advocating for all students, be it domestic or international students,” Godswill said. “ In the past, I’ve always advocated for international students. This has risen because that is what I am.”

Godswill said he will be advocating for the mental health of all college students, providing them with the resources they need.

Roberts wants to restore unity to the student senate if elected to the role of vice president.

“My biggest advocacy, if I was so selected as vice president, is dealing with any of the divisions that might exist within our own student government,” Roberts said. “I know that we have gone through some challenges together and that is the first priority, solving division and making sure that we are one cohesive piece like at the very beginning of the year.

Asmamaw wishes to be available to meet the needs of all students if chosen for the vice presidency.

“I am looking forward to improving the experience for domestic and international students, which might be organizing events, addressing concerns and complaints through responsible administration,” Asmamaw said.

In response to a question about how the three candidates would seek to build cohesiveness among the senators, Douglas suggested having senators who are working on similar projects work together. 

“There is power in numbers,” Douglas said.

Asmamaw wants to analyze the strengths of each senator and capitalize on that by having each senator focus on their strengths as she said she’s learned “someone can be a great leader” when previous senators have taken the time to do so. 

Godswill said it is best for the vice president to take the initiative to meet with senators to see how they are doing in their roles rather than vice versa.

“When I know that something needs to be done, I don’t wait for it. I go for it,” Godswill said.

After much time spent assessing the candidates, the senators decided to call an executive session. An executive session means the senators are allowed a private discussion among themselves without cameras or the gallery in observation.

“The entire reason why we believe this should move into executive session is we want to discuss the candidates as senators,” Senator Roshit Niraula said.

After over an hour of private discussion under executive meeting, no results were delivered, indicating that no vice president had been selected.

Write to Tracy Swartzendruber at tracy.swartzendruber@mnsu.edu