At the Downtown campus student government’s first official Senate meeting on Friday, President Tania Mendes announced the resignation of two of the Senate’s members and plans for ASU President Michael Crow to meet with students monthly through telecasts.
The resignations of sophomore Josh Frigerio, senator for the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication, and sophomore Ariana Heet, senator for the College of Nursing and Health Innovation, leaves the Associated Students of Arizona State University Downtown Senate with only five of 14 spots filled.
To fill the Senate spots that were not filled by ASASUD elections in April, Mendes and Vice President Beth Wischnia interviewed applicants and will nominate their choices to the Senate for confirmation at a special session sometime before the next Senate meeting on Oct. 2, Mendes said.
Mendes said it is critical to fill all Senate positions.
“The Senate helps us touch upon all the different students that make up this campus,” Mendes said. “Where we don’t have two senators filled, that’s a group of students that don’t have a voice.”
The College of Public Programs is the only school on the Downtown campus represented by two senators.
After the meeting, Frigerio said he resigned because he is involved in other leadership roles on campus, and the senator-role required more time than he would have been able to commit.
“It requires a lot of time and commitment, and I’d love to do it,” Frigerio said. “I just don’t have that time to really make the role as successful as it needs to be.”
However, Frigerio said he would like to continue to be involved in a smaller role with ASASUD, which he said has a lot of great ideas heading into their first year.
“There’s a lot of excitement and a lot of pride for the organization and for downtown, so I think they’re going to do a fantastic job this year,” Frigerio said. “They’re definitely going to make an impact.”
At the meeting, Mendes said Crow will rotate between the different campuses each month for his telecasts with the student body. The first telecast is scheduled for Oct. 8 at 4 p.m. and will be shown at one currently undetermined location on the Downtown campus.
Sophomore Sen. Abigail Wischnia, College of Public Programs, said she is excited to see what comes out of those meetings.
“I think it’s only going to help us improve our relationship with him, the University and the other presidents at the other campuses as well,” Wischnia said.
The Senate also approved the creation of a safety committee to be chaired by junior Joe Pettinato, senator for the College of Public Programs, and discussed the expansion of trash and recycle bins throughout the campus. Mendes also outlined University and campus priorities set by her and the presidents of the other campuses to the Senate and encouraged the senators to meet with their school’s dean and their constituents as well.
Contact the reporter at salvador.rodriguez@asu.edu
