Student government fails third try to elect VP

Student senators heard from Rebekka Jay, a management and political science major, and Ruth Asmamaw, a social work and communication studies major, who were candidates for the third round of the vice presidency race.

Among various questions posed by the senators, Jay and Asmamaw responded to a question concerning how they have helped students in the past. Asmamaw recounted helping a fellow international student figure out various aspects of being a freshman, such as how to register for classes. Jay recounted filling the place of fellow student ambassadors who were unable to provide a campus tour for potential freshmen.

Jay and Asmamaw were also given the opportunity to state what projects they would seek to pursue in their role as vice president.

“Some of the things that I am planning to do, if elected, are student basic needs and mental health,” Asmamaw said. “For example, the student government offers free access to lawyers, but most students don’t know about that. Recently, I had a friend who came up to me with this problem, and they didn’t know what to do. I said the student government offers this.”

“One thing that I think a lot of our students are lacking is an understanding of the resources that our university provides for them, as well as a lot of the organizations that we have here on campus for them to be involved with. I want to work on some different guides for students to know what is accessible to them,” Jay said. “Another thing I want to help students with is tutoring across all of our different colleges that we have here at MSU.”

Asmamaw and Jay responded to a question about their core values or policies in the vice presidency.

“My core values will be honesty, responsibility, and time management,” Asmamaw said.

“One of my core values is vulnerability,” Jay said.

After much time spent interviewing the candidates, President Sierra Roiger called for an executive session to allow the senators to discuss in private without cameras or the gallery present. The outcome was no vice president was chosen as Asmamaw and Jay failed to win the two-thirds majority needed.

Header Photo: Student senators heard from Rebekka Jay, a management and political science major, and Ruth Asmamaw, a social work and communication studies major, who were candidates for the third round of the VP race. (Alexis Darkow/The Reporter)

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