This year, ASCUI Vice President Jonah Sielaff is in charge of leading and overseeing the student leadership group known as Senate. This year's Senate team is composed of 39 Senators, 22 of which were elected just this year! 

Here are the senators of the 2021-2022 academic year: 

Seniors: Aaron Richardson, Alexander Kitano, Gerardo Duran, Kathryn Timmerman, Emily Mullins, Skyler Hembree, Jaylen Newman. 

Juniors: Christiana Patton, Elisa Runtsch, Emely Torres, Destiny Dekker, Katherine Settle, Daniel Woodfin, Sadie Tucker, Juliann Johnson, Donovan Lucker, Angelique Antonini, Amanda Renfro, Lillian Hall, Valerie Pederson, Margo Adamec. 

Sophomores: Riley Maszk, Emmalyn Doyle, Kylie Dunkleberger, Maximus Upchurch, Samuel Schult. 

Freshmen: David Sanchez, Emily Minor, Isaiah Duport, Leah Sugita, Maggie Brascia, Emelyah Banzon, Ethan Flores, Jynelle Contreras, Kaitlyn Bills, Kiana Hernandez, Natalie Annunziato, Reagan Wagner, Elise Schult.

So, what is the role of an ASCUI Senator? Every Wednesday, the ASCUI team and Senate meet for 30 minutes to work on brainstorming and sharing ideas. Each Senator is placed into a rounds group and a committee group. These groups are each focused on individual areas of the campus. Some of the committees include Bon Appetit, Campus Safety, Housing and University Services. The rounds groups are focused on Commuters, Quads, Arts, Rho, Sigma and Athletes. Senators talk with students in these areas to figure out the needs of the campus. 

Once they have collected information, they create a presentation to share at a Senate meeting. After the Senators bring their presentations to the meeting, the ASCUI team will share these ideas and propositions with the administration. The administration will then decide what they can do to implement these ideas. Senators also help to approve clubs, budgets and serve in various volunteer opportunities on campus. 

Sielaff is very excited for this year of Senate and feels confident in the team of Senators to work together to be the voice of the student body. Sielaff shared a few insights about Senate this year. He stated, “I am most excited about getting to know the Senators and actually being able to affect change on our campus. Something you may not know about Senate is that we know a lot. We have our hands in a lot of different things, and Senate is very informed about what goes on around campus.”

Sielaff has put together a strong team of Senators who are excited and committed to improving the student experience here at Concordia University Irvine. If you want your voice to be heard, feel free to share any questions or ideas you may have with the Senators or ASCUI team! 

Tags: Alexander Carr, community

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