Alexis Williams | Staff Writer

We have all heard it before: “Extracurricular involvement is everything.” With the plethora of student groups available on campus, sometimes it is hard to find the right club for your passions. Arguably one of the most prominent and prestigious groups on campus, Student Senate has a lot to offer the students at Buena Vista University (BVU) and with a meeting each week open to all students, it is very easy to become involved in Senate.

Student Body President Caitlin Hoffman states the goal of Student Senate.

“[The goal] is to provide an outlet for the student body to express their concerns, to inform students about matters that affect them, to aid other student organizations, and to represent Buena Vista University by promoting citizenship, responsibility, diversity, service, and so much more.”

Now this seems like quite the load, but as a former Senate member I can confidently say the impact of Student Senate is just this, and I truly wish students were more aware of the things Senate can and will do for the students.

Student Senate is made up of an executive board and members at large that represent the student body including freshmen, sophomores, juniors, seniors, commuters, and international students. All of the members take part in two or three of the 17 committees to put a greater focus on certain aspects of the campus. This year Student Senate plans to be more prevalent in the media so students can better communicate with them.

“We are working hard to revamp our Beaver’s Creed to better serve as a creed for students to abide by,” Hoffman said.

Most important to them this year is being more accessible to the student body. In order to do so, they have opened up their meetings to the students on Thursdays at 6 p.m. in Forum 1 hoping to encourage more student involvement. As a group, Student Senate truly hopes to better the student body and listen to needs, comments, questions, concerns, or suggestions – this I’m sure is why social media will be a focus for them this year.

An example of something the Senate addresses regularly is the food in the serve. When you’re sick of pasta, hummus, or mashed potatoes, be sure to tell a Senate member, and they will bring it up to Sodexo for you! Additionally, Student Senate is working on plans to propose a co-ed suite option to Student Affairs. If you have good input as to why or why not this may be a good idea, I am sure your Senators would love to hear your thoughts.

Overall, I find that Student Senate is a great resource for students, and we should all take advantage of the services they provide. My only suggestion to the group is making the members more known to the student body so other students know who to go to when they come across an idea or suggestion to propose to Student Senate. Other than that, I truly admire the work they do and the support they provide.

“Buena Vista is an incredible school… how lucky are we to have the chance to represent that? Senate is about representing the Beavers, so we certainly encourage all students to visit us and talk with us about their thoughts, opinions, and concerns,” Hoffman said.

Graphic by Makensie Brown