The Senate saw seven different bills Wednesday confirming Senators and students alike to various positions and committees within Student Government — all of which passed unanimously.

Vice President Jaden Ahlrichs, a senior in global resource systems, said the Senate has seen a lower number of bills passed this session due to the low number of returning senators.

“Last year we had a lot of returners, and so there was a lot of people that came into the fall season already being seasoned, but this was almost a fresh Senate in the fall,” Ahlrichs said. “They’ve had that semester now to kind of feel things out, know everyone, get confidence, and so I would hope and expect that this semester, a lot more things will be happening.”

One of Ahlrichs’ campaign promises was to tackle food insecurity, which he said he wants to transition Iowa State’s Students Helping Out Peers (SHOP) under funding provided by the Analysis of Social Services Evaluation Team’s funding. This would provided it with a reliable stream of income as opposed to donations, Ahlrich said.

Ahlrichs said food insecurity will continue to be addressed, citing next week’s proposed funding for the Good Earth Student Farm.

“They organically grow produce, and last summer they donated over 700 pounds to shop,” Ahlrich said. “A big thing that we’ll be doing down at the state level and then when we go to D.C. in a month is just advocating for more funding for campus– pumping more money into the university will benefit students everywhere.”

Confirmations

Martin Hursh, a sophomore majoring in economics, was confirmed as an at-large to the finance committee.

Finance Director Kit Clayburn, a senior majoring in animal ecology, served as a proxy for Hursh, having said Hursh was unable to make it to the Senate meeting due to a prior engagement.

“Last year, he kinda got thrown into it in the middle of the first semester, but seeing him during annuals, he knew [Student Government’s Priorities and Criteria] kinda better than me,” Clayburn said. “I think that’s something that would be very valuable, especially during [the] annuals process– looking at P&C and knowing that forward and backward is kind of what we need on finance committee.”

Anna Hackbarth, a senator for the college of engineering and a senior majoring in electrical engineering, was confirmed to the public relations committee.

Hackbarth briefly went into her past experience relevant to public relations such as managing the websites of two student organizations, designing posters and social media posts for four different student organizations and managing listservs and contacts for over 90 engineering clubs.

Sophie Dickie, a freshman double majoring in anthropology and international studies, was confirmed as the director of diversity, equity and inclusion.

“I’m just super passionate about it because I felt kind of weird my whole life in predominantly white spaces, and I really hope that future generations do not have to feel the same,” Dickie said.

Dickie said going forward, she wants to focus on inclusivity and outreach within Iowa State’s honors community as a member herself as well as organizing a town hall for international students.

Quinn Margrett, a senator for the inter-residence hall association and a freshman in business economics, and Alex Cecil, an off-campus senator and a senior in agronomy, were confirmed to the rules committee.

Margrett was also confirmed to the student fees and tuition committee by the Senate after a preliminary nominative vote which Margrett won 23-2.

Ethan Matthews, an off-campus senator and sophomore in performing arts, was confirmed as director of marketing by the Senate. Matthews said he believes he was nominated for the position due to his ability to thrive as a leader.

Sundar Shivraj, a senior majoring in computer science, was confirmed as director of outreach by the Senate.

New Business

Next week, the Senate is set to vote on funding for the Iowa State Equestrian Club — Hunt team. The proposed funding totals $3,758.40.

Senate documents do not explicitly detail what event the funds are going towards, but the funds are proposed to go toward venue rentals, equipment rentals and horse leases.

The Senate is also set to amend the student legal services contract so that the contract accurately reflects salaries and benefits provided by the university, according to Senate documents.

Funding for the Good Earth Student Farm is also set to be addressed by the Senate next Wednesday.

Editor’s note: A previous version of the article stated SHOP was funded by ASSET. It has since been corrected to note this is a goal of the Ludwig/Ahlrich administration.