The year-long transition from the old Student Confederation to the new Student Government is now complete after the General Assembly was gaveled into extinction last night by now-former Speaker Richard Bradbury, and the Undergraduate Senate took off running with the election of a new speaker, Chris Sgro, a senior in the School of Public Affairs.
"We have a new Senate and we need new leadership," said Speaker Sgro, an unconventional pick because he is not one of the 24 new senators. Typically, the speaker is selected from within the body.
A new Student Government constitution was passed last fall and the first SG executive branch was elected in the spring to replace the old SC. The SC's legislative body, the GA, was held over through the fall elections to complete governing by-laws.
The SG executives, led by President Kyle Taylor, have been working to revamp the image of student government by creating new programs and policies, advocating for the student body in the Ladner affair and heading up a massive advertising campaign, which includes a new web site and the saturation of campus with "Be" t-shirts and buttons.
Along with the birth of the new legislature comes a transfer of policy-making power. The Senate will now determine policy through legislation and the executives will be tasked with carrying out its agenda. Press releases and policy initiatives that have typically originated from the executive branch will now be more the responsibility of the legislature. Executives will have power to make motions and propose legislation, although they still do not have voting rights.
While the GA was often disregarded because of its perceived ineffectiveness, senators are hopeful that the added responsibilities for the branch will grant it more legitimacy than its predecessor.
In an emotional farewell speech, Speaker Bradbury, who graduates in December, praised the members of the GA for elevating the legislature from a body "generally regarded with feelings ranging from apathy to general contempt" to a body that is now more open and relevant to students.
"Student Government at AU has been successfully revitalized, and is moving in a direction that I could once only imagine," Bradbury said. "I have absolute and unquestionable faith that the men and women in this room will be ready and able to match every challenge that is put before them."
The 24 senators currently holding seats in the 30-member body narrowly selected Sgro by secret ballot to lead the body over Senator Charlie Biscotto, who was a Letts Hall representative and the Clerk in the GA and is now a Class of 2008 Senator. Only four of the 24 senators served in the GA, including Biscotto.
Although Sgro is not a senator, the legislative by-laws of the SG allow any undergraduate student to become speaker. Sgro served in the GA as a representative for off-campus students and ran for the SPA seat in the recent Senate elections but lost the race by four votes.
Sgro was known in the GA for being a leading voice on controversial issues, but he reassured the body that he would now be an advocate, not for his own issues but for the Senate as a whole.
"My commitment has been and will continue to be making sure that the views of the Senate will be clearly represented in the student government at large," Sgro said.
Sgro was also known in the former body for his strong relationship with the executive branch of the SG, as well as the leaders of the law school and the Graduate Leadership Council.
Both speaker candidates campaigned for the position by promising to increase communication within the SG. Sgro told the senators he will always make sure he's accessible to them and also shared his vision of holding town hall meetings so the legislators can better represent the student body.
A point of division during the debate between the two candidates arose over whether Biscotto's close ties to the leadership of the GA would be beneficial or harmful in the new Senate.
Senator Nick Johnson, a junior in SPA, said the Senate needs a leader who is not "entrenched in the old." But Senator Katie Myers, a sophomore in SPA, defended Biscotto by reminding the body that he has been "very involved in developing the new ways" as a principle author of the Senate's governing by-laws.
The Senate also selected chairs to head its four standing committees at yesterday's four-hour meeting of the two legislatures. All four of the committee chairs are sophomores in the School of Public Affairs:
Committee on Services and Communications chair: Joseph Colarusso Committee on Programming chair: Katie Myers Committee on University Policy chair: Charlie Biscotto Committee on External Affairs chair: Una Ann Hardester
