The Illinois Student Senate introduced and swore in its new executive board members for the upcoming fall semester at its transition meeting Wednesday.

The executive board for the upcoming fall term consists of Student Body President Damani Bolden, Vice President-external Timmy Knudsen, Vice President-internal Jenny Baldwin, and Treasurer Kevin Seymour.

Preceding Student Body President Brock Gebhardt shared what ISS meant to him as he served for the past 12 months.

“For me, to be able to serve in this capacity has truly affected my life,” Gebhardt said. “When challenges to our unity emerged, we rose to meet them. Facing the prospect of an internal division, we took decisive measures to safeguard our collective voice. There were very tough times for our student organization, but the toll would’ve been far worse had we not acted.”

Newly elected senators were also in attendance and were sworn in for the upcoming semester. Gebhardt encouraged them to address the senate and engage in productive dialogue.

Senators, consisting of both undergraduate and graduate students, were encouraged by Gebhardt to work as a team to bring students’ concerns to the forefront of the campus’ attention. 

“Together, with determination and hard work we will reinvigorate our government to advocate more successfully than ever,” Gebahrdt said.

Previous Vice President-internal, Shao Guo, gave advice for newly elected senators.

“All of the senator elects that are here, you matter,” Guo said. “You matter a lot to the students here. The only legacy you can leave behind here is this institution.”

Fiscal responsibility was a topic of concern for many senators during the meeting, especially concerning a passed $1,000 senate allocation to the C-U Bike to Work and School Day event. The necessity and allocation of money for various resolutions were of concern, especially to senators Matt Gold and Max Ellithorpe.

In addition, Gold, senior in LAS, and Ellithorpe, graduate student, suggested that the senate should give its $1,000 allocation to the University’s Facilities and Services to be used for fixing bike paths instead of providing incentives.

Gold and Ellithorpe also commented on the unnecessary need to spend money on transition meeting refreshments, which were provided at the ceremony following the meeting. The refreshments totaled $262, which Gold and Ellithorpe said they saw as unnecessary.

Ryan Young, graduate student, served as vice president-external until this past January and responded to Gold’s and Ellithorpe’s concerns regarding ISS spending.

“Money doesn’t matter,” Young said. “We can’t change this campus with $39,000, but we can change a lot with our voices. Really know why you’re here. Know that students are depending on you because they want you to talk to the administration.”

Bolden echoed Young’s sentiment by outlining how his administration will approach the issue of fiscal responsibility next term.

“I am a proponent of being as fiscally transparent as possible,” Bolden said. “It was one of my campaign promises to work with the treasurer to put up a more formalized budget. I guarantee that I can only give the students of the great University of Illinois the promise that we will be more fiscally responsible with our dollars, more efficient with them and more ethical with them.”

During member comment, the main issues of concern for next year’s term included not only fiscal responsibility, but also senate time management during meetings and the main goal of serving the community.

Jim Maskeri, senator and senior in LAS, provided the new fall senate with advice on how to approach the new position.

“If you are here to truly make a difference, then yes, this place is for you,” Maskeri said. “It’s important that you are here representing your student constituents. It’s important that we have constant vigilant voices speaking in our student senate.”

Liz can be reached at [email protected].

Editor’s note: This article previously stated incorrectly that Matt Gold said Facilities and Services should use its money to fix the bike paths rather than provide incentives. The article should have stated that Gold was asserting the Illinois Student Senate should give the $1,000 donation to Facilities and Services in order to support further construction and repairs to bicycle lanes rather than the passed $1,000 expenditure.