Temo Molina and Ethan Ciancio’s term has ended as their prospective roles as student body president and vice president. Familiar faces will be returning to the student senate but that won’t be true for these two.
Molina enjoyed his time as student body president and was able to greater appreciate his role.
“I really enjoyed the conversations I got to have with students which sounds cliche, but in my case, I got the sense of hope from students who maybe didn’t feel as represented as they could have been,” said Molina. “I think my background as a first-gen student from a minoritized community and the students who got to see me in a position isn’t common for folks from backgrounds like mine and people like me. It was really empowering and inspiring to hear from students who see me in a position and know that they can achieve great things.”
Presidents in the past few years had been seniors graduating and moving on from UNK. Molina and Ciancio are both juniors returning to student life.
“I will be attending UNMC in the next semester and the following,” said Ciancio. “I will still be on campus and a face for people to talk to whenever they may need. I will still come to meetings and throw in my ideas if I have any.”
The pair’s last meeting of the term was on Tuesday, April 9. The meeting was mostly thank yous, farewells and bittersweet goodbyes with those graduating or moving on from Student Senate. New members joining the council in the next term were also introduced.
Existing project updates were given during the meeting. Noah Shackelford, chief of staff, and Kimberly Gomez, secretary of organizations and affairs, are actively working with IT to discuss shifting around printers on campus. Students have shared that there is no need to have three printers in the library. Printers will be made more available by moving the additional printers in the library to other campus locations that do not currently have printers. Olivia Lawless, secretary of treasury, is working towards contributing $750 of the Student Senate budget to replace damaged security cameras in Lot 8 on campus.
A lot was accomplished during the term. Whiteboard tables were added as a study tool for students in Bruner Hall. Student Senate leaders worked to build stronger relationships throughout campus to ensure students are being put first.
The student body president and vice president inauguration for the 2024-25 term was held on April 16. Sam Schroeder and Zane Grizzle were sworn in as student body president and vice president.