Evan Wood elected as MSA Senate Speaker

Wood won the election by four votes.

By Kaylen Ralph

Published Feb. 26, 2010

Missouri Students Association Operations Chairman Evan Wood was nominated and elected as the new Senate speaker Wednesday night.

Wood was previously nominated at the last full Senate session Feb. 10 but declined the nomination at the time. He said there was not really a defining factor that made him change his mind this week when Academic Affairs Chairman Ian Krause nominated him again.

"There wasn't a specific thing; it was a combination of a lot of factors," Wood said. "Specifically I examined the past and found that there's a tradition of leaders who come through Senate and then leave for Executive. Nothing to defame them, but I've always been more interested in Senate. I decided it would be a disservice to the Senate, myself and the students because there is work to do in Senate."

Wood won the election by a margin of four votes. Freshman Senator Jake Sloan garnered 18 votes compared to Wood's 22.

MSA bylaws state a person must be a member of Senate for at least two semesters before being eligible to run for Speaker. Using Robert's Rules of Order, Senate was able to suspend the rules with a two-thirds vote, giving Sloan's nomination validity.

MSA President Tim Noce expressed concern about what he thought was a rash decision by the voting body to suspend the rules.

"I just don't want to set a precedent," Noce said. "I believe suspension of bylaws should only be done in extreme situations when no other option is on the table."

During discussion of the Wood and Sloan, Noce chose to speak in Wood's favor because of Wood's higher level of experience.

"To be honest, I thought he was a strong candidate for the position," Noce said. "He possesses the drive, experience and knowledge necessary to be a good Speaker. Jake has those qualities as well. I just don't think they're as refined as Evan's."

Multicultural Issues Committee Chairwoman Alex Holley brought up the point that under Senate's recent criticism as being irrelevant, Sloan might bring the change necessary to turn Senate around.

Senate Speaker Amanda Shelton agreed Senate was undergoing change.

"We're changing, and we see a culture change," Shelton said. "Who is going to take that all and really bring it to fruition?"

Based on the anonymous vote, Senate believed Wood was the person for the job. Sloan said Senate speaker is something he still aspires to be and sees himself running for it again in the future.

"I would like to (run again)," Sloan said. "It depends on how situations occur. I truly do enjoy running organizations, and this is something I would aim to do."

Junior Senator Danielle Owens said she did not expect the election results to be so narrow.

"I think there is a lot of support behind Evan in Senate, and I think Senate is leery to have a new face in such a position," Owens said.

Wood said his main goals as Senate speaker are lobbying for public schools regarding Access Missouri, preventing any legislation lowering minimum wage for teens from passing, increasing Student Union hours if students want the hours increased and revising the Student Court. He stressed the importance of combating irrelevancy within the organization.

"We are a direct link to the students," Wood said. "We have a direct constituency we should be reporting to."