The Student Government Association is working to fill a number of open positions for senators following the resignation of former senators Evan Epps and Ryan Hernandez. Their departure has prompted the SGA to seek out new representatives for three positions.

Epps and Hernandez’s choice to leave the Student Government Association have not caused issues regarding to voting, according to SGA president Evan Lewis, but the SGA is still seeking to fill their positions as quickly as possible. This ensures that the student body will have the complete number of five representatives for each class, and selecting new senators now will train them earlier, instead of having to wait for these positions to be filled through standard elections. Senators who are brought into the office now will have a better understanding of the position later, which will save time with training. Preliminary interviews will be conducted by two sophomore senators, two junior senators and Lewis. …Once students have made it through this initial interview, they will be interviewed by the entire SGA and, finally, selections will be made.

“I have full faith in the selection committee””that they will choose [candidates] who are passionate about improving student life and will fight for Trinity students,” Hernandez said.

The senators stepped down for multiple reasons. Hernandez joined the Residential Life staff, and due to conflicts of interest one cannot serve on ResLife and SGA at the same time.

“The opportunity to join ResLife was too big to turn down, and I believe I can personally impact more students as a Resident Mentor, along with growing as a leader, than I could have as a senator,” Hernandez said.

For Epps, it was simply a matter of a shift in focus. Evans explained that with a new semester, priorities can change. He maintains that it is still preferable for senators to fulfill their duties and complete their term, a sentiment echoed by Hernandez and Epps. Both former senators expressed that their decisions were made after considerable thought, and they both expressed an interest in giving the positions to students who could really prioritize the role of a senator. Their input is not included in the selection process for new senators.

“The student body deserves representatives with dedication to the position,” Epps said. “It really boiled down to wanting to dedicate myself further to other interests.”

The applications for new senators were accepted and considered this week. The SGA decided on the new senators last Wednesday. The newly appointed Senators are sophomores Dominique Valenzuela and Dzung Vu and junior Jordan Riley.