Update: This article has been updated with the remaining election results from the April 5 CSG meeting.
The University of Michigan Central Student Government met virtually and in person for the first time with the newly elected representatives of the 12th Assembly Tuesday night. The Assembly met to swear in the 12th assembly and elect several other prominent positions, including speaker and vice speaker of the Assembly.
The meeting began with the swearing in of LSA Junior Noah Zimmerman, the new CSG president, and LSA Junior Jackie Hillman, the new CSG vice president. They then swore in the entirety of the 12th assembly.
The seats for the Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning and the College of Engineering were not decided until Tuesday’s meeting due to ties during the election. The assembly elected Rackham student Eilis Finnigan as Taubman representative, and Engineering freshman Ayden Riley as Engineering representative.
The meeting then moved to the election of the speaker of the Assembly. LSA sophomore Karthik Pasupula ran unopposed and was elected and sworn in as the speaker of the 12th assembly.
CSG also held elections for the position of vice speaker of the assembly. The two candidates were LSA sophomore Aarushi Ganguly and LSA freshman Olivia O’Connell.
After Ganguly’s nomination, there were concerns raised about her former position as vice chair to the executive nominations committee. Rackham student Siddharth Chadhauri cited that there were several negative allegations against the committee during Ganguly’s tenure. These allegations included that the committee had failed on multiple occasions to produce valid reports.
“As I understand it, the committee last year was marred by multiple allegations of poorly written and biased reports regarding candidates nominated by the executive branch,” Chadhauri said. “In many instances, those reports were incomplete, and submitted on a delayed timeline.”
In response to these concerns, Ganguly said while she was a member of leadership, she did not have much power to direct the actions of the committee. However, she did say that her time on the committee was a learning experience.
“I learned how to be more responsible and more communicative,” Ganguly said.
Assembly members also raised concerns about O’Connell’s lack of experience; she has spent less time on CSG than Ganguly. However, O’Connell said she believed she was prepared for the role, and that while her record on CSG may not be as long, it wasn’t questioned during the debate.
“I am running for this position because I genuinely believe that I have the skills to take on the role,” O’Connell said. “I don’t have a record that has been questioned tonight.”
O’Connell also raised concerns about Ganguly’s enrollment for the fall. O’Connell claimed Ganguly had once insinuated in a conversation with O’Connell that she would be transferring schools in the fall. Citing the fact that vice speaker is a year-long position, O’Connell said this was concerning for Ganguly’s ability to serve as vice speaker.
Ganguly said she was recently accepted into the School of Public Health at the University, and she believes that she will be able to do the position justice for the duration of the term.
“I think that I can hold this position really well for as long as the time permits,” Ganguly said.
After questions and debates concluded, the assembly held a vote, and Ganguly was elected and sworn in as the vice speaker for the 12th assembly.
There were several other positions elected during the meeting:
Public policy junior Divya Periakaruppan was elected as chair of the Finance Committee.
Social work student Matt Dargay was elected as chair of the Resolutions Committee.
LSA sophomore Jarek Schmanski was elected as chair of the Rules Committee.
LSA freshman Mario Thaqi was elected to the position of vice chair to the Finance Committee and vice-chair of the Executive Nominations Committee.
O’Connell was elected as chair of the Communications Committee.
Engineering sophomore Maria Fields was elected to the position of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion coordinator.
LSA freshman Jacob Amspaugh was elected to the position of chair of the executive Nominations Committee.
LSA senior Tyler Fioritto was elected to the position of chair of the Ethics Committee.
Business sophomore Ruben Garcia was elected to the position of the vice-chair of the Rules Committee.
Engineering freshman Ryan Schmidt was elected to the positions of the vice-chair of the Resolutions Committee and Deputy Director of the SOC.
LSA student Zena Nasiri was elected to the position of the vice-chair of the Communications Committee.
Freshman Ben Thomas was elected to the position of vice-chair of the Ethics Committee.
Freshman engineering student Ayden Riley was elected as the Students of Michigan Legislative Delegate.
Rackham student Hayden Jackson was confirmed as Director of the SOC.
The assembly also voted on other positions, but representatives of the assembly did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
Daily Staff Reporter Riley Hodder can be contacted at rehodder@umich.edu.