As a part of its ongoing elections and appointments for the new year, the Associated Student Government Senate swore in a new deputy speaker of the Senate and elected three new Rules Committee members at its Wednesday meeting.

Weinberg sophomore Melissa Kusi-Amponsah was appointed deputy speaker by Weinberg sophomore and newly-elected Speaker Grace Houren.

Kusi-Amponsah said she was proud to pass legislation to mandate emergency training for students and faculty, create a new pre-True Northwestern Dialogue on campus safety, implement mental health days for students after emergency events and develop an NUhelp app.

“I really just want to be more of a resource to ASG because I feel like I gained a lot of practice when it comes to writing legislation, and I was able to give some advice to other senators,” Kusi-Amponsah said.

Previously a Rules Committee member and a Weinberg senator, she said she will work with senators and the administration to implement legislation as deputy speaker.

Once legislation is passed, senators typically meet with the relevant administrator to determine whether it will be feasible, Houren said. 

Kusi-Amponsah said the amount of legislation implemented after passing has decreased due to senator turnover with new elections and the stress of the quarter system. She said she will work to connect senators to the administration so legislation can be implemented.

Senators also elected three people to next year’s Rules Committee — Weinberg sophomore Aiden Karnick, Weinberg freshman Alisa Vazgryna and Medill freshman John Sisco. All three are current Student Group Caucus members.

“Acquainting myself with the Constitution and the rules of conduct that govern the ASG will be good for my education and to become a more effective member of the (Finance) Committee,” said Sisco, a former Daily staffer who also serves as the NU Political Union Senator and Deputy Chair of Management and Development of the Finance Committee.

The Rules Committee convenes each quarter to revise ASG’s Code and Constitution and reviews legislation for constitutionality before it is voted on in the Senate. Three senators from the Undergraduate Schools Caucus, three senators from the Student Group Caucus and the parliamentarian hold seats in the committee.

While the new student group senators were trained in writing legislation, the school senators brainstormed new legislation for Spring Quarter. Ideas included improving transgender healthcare at Northwestern Medicine, financially supporting low-income Bienen students to replace broken instruments and hiring more Safe Ride drivers.

Weinberg sophomore and Undergraduate Schools Caucus Whip Kaitlyn Salgado-Alvarez suggested legislation prohibiting professors from assigning homework over breaks.

“We had a lot of legislation passed last quarter, and I’m excited to see the implementation side of it this quarter,” Houren said.

The Student Group Caucus will elect a new whip at next week’s meeting.

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