Each December before students head off for the long winter break, the student body elects new leadership for the Student Senate.
Junior Alex Robbins was elected president, making him the first fraternity man to lead the Senate since Greg Mahoney in 2005. Robbins is a member of Beta Theta Pi. Jeremy Wentzel ’14, an independent, was elected vice president.
We asked Robbins to share his thoughts heading into the new year:
“The number one item on the agenda that Mr. Wentzel and I want to accomplish is a transformation of the Senior Council, structurally and financially. The two biggest problems that we, and in some cases the student body have seen, are poor communication and the fact that the Council does not have to open its books.
“Once it receives funds, that’s it. No more questions asked. To fix the financial problem, we are going to work with our treasurer to open up the Sr. Council to audits or questions just like every other club on campus.
“The communication problems stems from a poorly structured system. I don’t think that any of it is a result of bad leadership from other administrations, in fact, Steve and Tyler have greatly improved student government in this area. But the Wabash Student Body is ready to take the next step. So, the Sr. Council is absorbing the Senior Council Activities Committee, the group that is responsible for the planning and execution of all-campus events. Seeing as campus unity is the primary goal of the Sr. Council, it makes no sense that SCAC members do not serve on the Council and their only representative is not a voting member. The changes we are making will make the at-large members of Sr. Council the SCAC members, giving them voting rights and giving a more direct responsibility to the Sr. Council on issues pertaining to all-campus events.
“Steve and Tyler have been very helpful since we found out that we won the election and helped take the first step in making structural changes to Sr. Council so that we are ready to roll when January comes. So we are lucky that we have two guys who have done so much for Wabash and want to see it be successful in the future to be here helping us get things in place for next semester.
“Jeremy and I are excited to get started. We have both been in student government positions since our respective freshman years and we feel like we are ready to lead. Whether its by the changes I mentioned with Sr. Council, or offering new kinds of events for students, or trying to just find more effective and efficient ways to serve the student body, we are going to do everything we can to make the system better for Wabash student, present and future.”
