Pictured Above: Sean Schrader (top left), Daniel Lujo (bottom left), Yamaris Rodriguez (top right) and Makenna Caskey were some of the elected Campus Council and Senate representatives.
Courtesy of Sean Schrader, Daniel Lujo, Yamaris Rodriguez and Makenna Caskey
By Catherine Hicks
Although USF St. Petersburg has elected new representation in the second consolidated Student Government election, vacancies remain.
Unofficial results were announced on March 12, though the exact voting numbers have yet to be finalized by the Election Rules Commision. Finalized results will be released following position acceptances.
In the campus-wide Senate, there are eight seats allocated to the St. Petersburg campus, but only six students were elected.
This will also be the case in the St. Petersburg Campus Council, as five students were elected to the nine-seat legislative body.
However, four candidates chose to run for both the Campus Council and the Senate. This means there will be even more vacancies in each body, depending on which position these four candidates choose.
Daniel Lujo, a sophomore in finance and current Campus Council member, was re-elected to his position.
Sean Shrader, a junior in business administration, and Makenna Caskey, a junior in political science, were both elected to the consolidated Senate.
Wren Ortenau, Stephane Mathurin, Yamaris Rodriguez and Whitney O’Keeffe were all elected for positions on both the Campus Council and in the Senate.
Veronica Jimenez and Eran Fruehauf were elected to the positions of Governor and Lt. Governor, respectively. Since their race was uncontested, they needed only one vote to win.
“Thank you to those who voted for us and believed in our campaign,” Jimenez said in a comment to The Crow’s Nest. “Our focus will continue to be to listen to the students voices and come forward with any initiatives that will benefit the student body for years to come… One of our main priorities is to serve the student body to the best of our ability.”
Jimenez also shared that some specific priorities are to provide accessible recycling bins in the residence hall, as well as establishing a mental health check-in similar to the daily campus pass currently in place to screen for COVID-19 symptoms.
In order for results to be certified, they will need to notify the Election Rules Commision of their decision on which position they would like to keep by Tuesday at noon.
Ortenau and Mathurin previously withdrew from the election, but uncertified results report they were still elected to the positions.
