The number of minority students serving on the senate has more than doubled after last week’s Government of the Student Body elections.

Seven African-American senators were voted into office to fill next year’s senate seats. This large increase in minority representation has both minority students and GSB officials happy.

Dan Mangan, GSB president, said the increase in minority senators will “inevitably improve the senate,” and he wishes it would have happened a long time ago.

“The senate will have to wake up and address some issues they have not addressed in the past,” Mangan said.

He credits the minority student groups on campus for the increase. He said they knew they were getting overlooked and took the initiative to do something about it.

That and the current debates over the renaming of Catt Hall and Jack Trice Field have worked to create more minority involvement, Mangan said.

“The one good thing about the Catt issue is that it did raise awareness enough to get people involved. Now there will be a very representative senate for next year,” Mangan said.

Chemika Butler, this year’s American ethnic minority senator, said she too is pleased with the election results.

Butler said the increase in the number of black student senators will not only increase the diversity of the senate, but will make for more open and healthy discussions.

“I think there will be more open- mindedness on considerations of all issues on campus,” she said.

The Black Student Alliance and UHURU, a campus newsletter targeted to minority groups, were two of the organizations that started the push for more minority involvement.

Kyle Pierce, president of the Black Student Alliance, said he was very pleased with the seven African American students who attained senate seats.

“I was really happy. It makes the student groups who go to GSB have a fighting chance when they get there. Now they’ll have somebody who will support their ideas and their legislation,” Pierce said.

He said the increased representation will make all minority students feel more comfortable at the GSB meetings because they will see people who are going to support them.

“Maybe now GSB won’t be viewed as such an exclusive group. This will give GSB an opportunity to encourage more students to get involved, and I know that is going to benefit everybody,” Pierce said.

Every time BSA went to a meeting, Pierce said, there were few people who did a good job representing minority students. So when election time came, one of their main priorities was to get minority students to run.

Pierce said they not only saw a big need to get people on GSB, but there were also many students who were fed up with the way GSB operated and handled its business.

“Everyone should be a part of the student government. You can’t criticize GSB if you are in it. If you are a part of the problem, then you will have to fix it. This will make GSB work harder to represent all minority students,” Pierce said.

Meron Wondwosen, editor in chief of UHURU, said she was also very happy with the number of minority students who would be serving on the senate next year.

“I was extremely pleased. I don’t know if it had to do with what was in the newsletter or if students just decided they needed to get out and vote. Either way I’m very pleased with the results,” Wondwosen said.

Wondwosen said she thinks the increase in black students serving on the senate will affect how GSB is run. With the higher representation, Wondwosen said, black student voices will be heard.

The March issue of UHURU endorsed 10 students who were running for senate positions. Of those 10, seven of them were voted into office, including Veronique Cantrell as LAS senator and Arthur Green III as the USAC senator.

Cantrell said next year’s senate will have a wider representation of issues that will affect more students on the university.

“One of the big problems of GSB is a lot of the “status quo” issues that are debated. Catt Hall was not talked about until people brought it to them. No one discusses why the Veishea executive committee and the freshmen council don’t have any minority students on them. Fortunately, this election has addressed that problem,” Cantrell said.

Green said he ran for the senate because he didn’t like what was going on in GSB. He heard about an open seat and decided to go for it.

“This is my way to get in there and actually do something. I want to see an environment where it doesn’t matter who you are, one where everyone gets an equal environment,” Green said.

He wants the GSB to stop arguing over little things and do something that will really affect people. Green wants the GSB to face reality more and make changes that affect the world, like race issues and economic issues.

“We need to see the diversity on this campus and try to reach it,” Green said.

Green thinks the increase of minority senators will change people’s views. He hopes next year’s senate will have a better view of things and will encourage more students to talk with senators and get involved in the process. He said the diversity will make it easier for all students to come up and discuss how they feel about issues.

“I want everybody to realize that the minority community is not trying to be a separate community. We are all striving for the same thing, but we also want to preserve our own cultures. On our path to achievement we all need to remember where we come from,” Green said.