Student Senate begins constitutional rewrite

Student Senate is looking at some changes, both in the way it’s run and in its role at Luther College by looking to rewrite its Constitution. While the process to make these changes has only begun this year, the desire has been around for a while.

According to Associate Dean of Student Life John Lund, the idea of making these changes has been a goal since last year.

“Last year, the Student Senate was involved in writing the Code of Conduct,” Lund said. “While they were rewriting the Code of Conduct, they realized that the current constitution didn’t fit. So we decided this year instead of making a few minor changes, we’d rewrite the whole thing.”

Senate President Mitch Zoelzer (‘10) agrees.

“It’s been on the docket,” Zoelzer said. “In terms of it coming to the forefront, changing the constitution is something both Abe [Campos, Senate Vice President] and I wanted to see done.”

Talks of how to change the constitution are ongoing and nothing is final yet. But several key points are being discussed.

Perhaps the most visible change is in how representatives are potentially elected. Instead of voting by class, students will instead vote by building. Under this new scheme, all dorms would be represented, as well as off-campus housing.

Zoelzer says this is all to make reaching the Student Senate easier.

“Hopefully it’s clearer who represents who and how,” Zoelzer said. “Each Senator can put up a bulletin board in their dorm and will be able to reach their constituents better.”

The election process will also be shorter. It will start the day of room draw and continue until reading day, or for one week. This is different from the past, when it was a whole month.

Allyson Batis (‘12), however, isn’t sure how much the changes will affect Luther students.

“With representation being decided by building over class, it won’t change that much,” Batis said. “I don’t think it will have too much of an effect. We have freshmen buildings, and Farwell is mostly seniors and Towers are predominantly sophomores, so I don’t see it having too much of an effect.”

In addition to rewriting their constitution, the Student Senate has also provided funding for student leadership initiatives. In total, nine groups were funded this spring and 15 over the whole year, ranging from getting a new pool table for Olson to providing school supplies to students mentored by Believing and Achieving. Student Senate, however, did not provide all the funding.

“We have a budget for $800 and close to $3,000 came from SAC, who had money to be used for student leadership initiatives,” Zoelzer said.

The Senate aims to become more active in its role on campus and to continue providing an example of student leadership.