Student government swears in new cabinet members Thursday

By Jocelyn Fowler
Reporter

Several new names were added to the roster of student government officials at Thursday’s Student Senate meeting.

In addition to the 13 freshman senators and three class officers, student senators swore in a new attorney general, Liberty sophomore Conner Gilliland; a communications director, Bulverde senior Kimberly Drake; an assistant communications director, Temple senior Lauralee Baird; and several new cabinet members to the offices of the student body president and the external vice president.

West Des Moines, Iowa, senior Kelly Rapp, student body president, is confident that his new cabinet members will provide valuable insight into several projects Rapp has planned for the school year.

“I’m expecting them to work closely with me this year on new initiatives such as adding student input into stadium discussions,” Rapp said.

Student senators also finalized changes to the Student Body Constitution and addressed two new bills concerning the upcoming Tex-Fest and what work is being done to restore the bowling alley in the Bill Daniel Student Center was lost last spring due to flooding.

According to legislation written by Rockwall senior Nick Pokorny, the loss of the bowling lanes has been a great inconvenience to Baylor students who must now travel to off-campus sites to participate in bowling courses.

With the support of his fellow senators, Pokorny hopes to encourage university officials to not only consider re-establishing the bowling lanes for recreational purposes, but upgrade original designs to accommodate a competitive women’s bowling team.

“Baylor University and the Department of Athletics could work together on this much needed project which would benefit the entire student body and allow more students on campus to compete at the NCAA Division I level,” reads the legislation. “As the student body continues to grow larger the need for a quality bowling facility increases.”