The Student Association Senate filled the occupancies of several positions and passed a major bill in Sunday’s meeting at the Regency Room of the Holmes Student Center.

Tristan Martin, Speaker of the Senate, led parliamentary procedure in electing three new individuals to take on new roles in SA, including filling the role of Director of Community Service.

Second-year senator Steven Wright was unanimously selected as the Director of Community Service. Martin said the growth Wright has shown throughout his time in SA makes him and ideal selection for this position. 

“I think he had a little journey this summer to build himself professionally, and I see that,” Martin said. “He’s much more active in SA now than he was before. I see he has potential, and because of that potential, I think he will serve well on my leadership team.”

Along with Wright moving up, the group also filled two senators positions by electing Jimmy Holmes and Ryan Carmody.

Holmes and Carmody both discussed their past involvement and accolades, and are both focused on SA and how they can be more involved around campus. 

In an ongoing attempt to improve SA involvement around campus, a bill was passed requiring SA members to attend at least one SA public relations event every semester. Deputy speaker Cassandra Kamp spearheaded discussions and said being a part of SA is a multi-faceted responsibility.

“You can’t just sit here at 5 [p.m.] Sunday’s, that’s not enough,” Kamp said. “You need to represent the students.”

Martin said passing the bill will go a long way in the growth of SA and the group being more involved with student organizations and groups around campus.

“It’s an outreach from SA to collaborate more with student organizations and to grow closer to those student bodies on campus,” Martin said. “That’s something I personally want to personify the SA in, and I think starting with the Senate is a good start.”

Martin also said he will be moving forward in a couple weeks with requiring the executive branch participate in this initiative as well.

The only concern among the Senate when discussing this motion was trying to implement the bill at this point in the semester. There was some debate about waiting until the spring semester, but the motion unanimously passed.

“I think [the Senate] understands these last couple of weeks that we do have is experimental for us,” Martin said. “It’s going to give us the ability to test and determine how this policy is going to flesh out and if we need to expand it or just get rid of it. I think everyone was on the same page and this initiative needs to happen.” 

Outside of new business, SA also approved the Outdoor Adventure Club as a student organization and welcomed Matthew Holt as a guest speaker. 

Holt is the founder of Survival Fight, which is a campaign for mental health awareness. Holt encouraged SA to get involved with his organization and help him spread awareness about mental-health issues. 

Holt said this is important for students to be aware of because 25 percent of the nation shows signs of being mentally unhealthy and that the second leading cause of death among college students is suicide.

“Why should you have to change for everybody else,” Holt said. “Why can’t society change for us?”