As this school year comes to a close, Gusties are able to reflect on the success their Student Senate has had this past year.

The Senate sought out this year to be more accessible and transparent to Gustavus students in order to more accurately represent the students and their needs and wants of the school.

Over the course of the year, they have changed a number of different aspects, since the years past, in order to accommodate the students.

Some of those changes included the way senate interacts with the students, the events they’ve sponsored and created, and their overall mission.

“We changed our office hours policy this year. Instead of senators having designated hours to be available in their dorms or in the lobby of their building, we have senators tabling every Monday from 5-7 p.m. before the Monday night senate meeting,” Student Senate’s Public Relations chair, Abbie Swenson said.

The Senate made this change in order for students to more conveniently voice their concerns, comments and opinions to the senate in hopes of seeing change where they want.

The Senate started the year introducing new members of the cabinet and committees then jumped right into their agenda for the first semester.

The Senate has hosted numerous visitors including, Nobel Laureate, Eric Kandel, President Rebecca Bergman and new Assistant Director of the Diversity Center, Kenneth Reid and Dr. Kandel.

Throughout the course of the year, a variety of resolutions were passed on the Senate floor and distributed to the Gustavus community through email. Along with the creation of new programs and events that took place, including the establishment of the Sexual Misconduct Task Force, Tell Me About Your Day and Take Your Professor to Lunch. The Senate’s main mission of serving the students of Gustavus has proven successful as they continue to respond and work diligently in regards to the students’ concerns, ideas and comments.

As they wrap up this academic year, they are already gearing up for another successful year next year .