Dean of Student Engagement and Student Senate Advisor Ashley Benson announced her plan for filling the Director of Student Activities position at the November 16 General Student Senate meeting, a position that was left vacant following the resignation of Jenna Mockler-Gjerde (‘06).
Vice President Natalie Neff (‘24) prompted Benson to speak about the plan to replace Mockler-Gjerde following Senate discussion of the Presidential Cabinet meeting on November 15. Benson specified that a plan to replace Mockler-Gjerde is currently in action and the position will be filled.
“I know that folks have been wondering about Jenna’s [now vacant] position,” Benson said. “There is work being done. The position is not going away. It will get filled, likely on an interim basis for now, and we will work to fill it on a more permanent basis after that. The position will remain. I do believe in student activities. The institution believes in student activities. We support student activities.”
Benson also expressed concern with negativity within the campus community. Benson shared that she is concerned that faculty and staff will “begin to feel beat up on” with the onslaught of complaints launched by students. In an interview conducted over email, Benson specified that her message to the Senate was to encourage a shift towards a more positive mindset.
“My encouragement for students is to shift their thinking toward positive things in an effort to train their minds towards positive outcomes and thinking,” Benson said. “The more positive one thinks the better the outlook they have on things. Positive psychology and emotional intelligence is super important for students to grasp. I want students to lean into this more.”
In other Senate news, President Jaraad Afroze Ahmed (‘25) and Neff announced that Student Senate has been given a section of the weekly Bulletin email to share what is happening in Senate meetings with the rest of the student body. They intend to include what happened the previous week, what is happening in the upcoming week, their weekly Minutes and Agenda and other ad hoc committee-related information.
The spring election nomination form and ballot will be the first items included in the Senate Bulletin. Three positions are up for election: Junior Class Representative, Sophomore Class Representative and Diversity Representative for Race and Ethnicity. Nominations will be open until November 26, and voting will be open from November 27 to December 4.
It was also announced in the meeting that Ahmed will be attending the November 20 Decorah City Council meeting. He inquired with the General Senate about the issues they wanted included in his two- to three-minute time slot to share with City Council members. Ahmed asked about a metaphorical “heat map” of where students are spending their time in Decorah so that this information could inform decisions about what Luther students are interested in. Ahmed shared that what he is to talk about was also discussed at the Cabinet meeting.
“One thing that [the Cabinet] pointed out was that before COVID, there was a lot more community engagement from Luther students,” Ahmed said. “Post-COVID, a lot of those things didn’t come back. We are now sort of in that space where things are easing up, and we’re trying to get more students out into the community. Students are in those spaces.”
Student Senate will meet again on November 30 at 9:45 a.m. in the Mott Room of the Dahl Centennial Union.
