Students' Association 2024–2025 Senate
The Students' Association Senate is comprised of 26 senators serving the 7 different academic colleges. If an academic college doesn't fill all of its seats Senators At-Large are sworn in to fill empty seats. Additionally, an executive team is formed at the beginning of each term to serve as senate leadership including the Student Body President and Vice President.
Learn more about the Students' Association Executive Team and Senate below!
President
Trinity Peterson
Committees: Finance Committee, Government Affairs Committee, Organizational Subcommittee and University Activity Fee and Budgeting Committee (UAFBC)
Year: Senior | Major(s): Political Science and Agricultural Leadership
Campus Involvement: 2021–2022 South Dakota State FFA Officer, 100th Little International Staff, Admissions Ambassador, Honors College and Hacky Sack Jacks
Vice President
Hayden Bentz
Committees: Finance Committee, Government Affairs Committee, and University Activity Fee and Budgeting Committee (UAFBC)
Year: Junior| Major(s): Human Biology and Business Economics
Campus Involvement: Pride of the Dakotas Marching Band, Fishback Honors College, Honors Dean's Student Advisory Council, Pre-Dental Club, Admissions Ambassador
Chief of Staff
Rylee Sabo
Committees: Finance Committee, Safety and Security Committee, and Student Diversity and Inclusion Committee
Year: Senior | Major(s): Nursing
Campus Involvement: Nursing Ambassador, Admissions Ambassador and Student Nurses' Association
Finance Chair
Grace Peterson
Committees: Finance Committee (Chair), University Activity Fee and Budgeting Committee (UAFBC), Student Promotions Committee
Year: Junior | Major(s): Agricultural Business and Business Economics
Campus Involvement: Collegiate Cattlemen's Club and Collegiate Farm Bureau
Government Affairs Chair
Claire Koenecke
Committees: Government Affairs Committee (Chair), Student Promotions (Chair), Safety and Security Committee, Organizational Subcommittee
Year: Junior | Major(s): English and Political Science
Campus Involvement: Hobo Day Committee, Taylor Swift Society, Lead State, and Honors College
Communications Chair
Gabrielle Fink
Committees: Senate Communications Committee (Chair), Strategic Internal Communications Committee, & Wellness Center Advisory Committee (WCAC)
Year: Senior | Major(s): Agricultural Communication
Campus Involvement: Little International, Collegiate Cattlemen's Club, and Agricultural Communicators of Tomorrow
Diversity Chair
Hannah Dayaget
Committees: Student Diversity and Inclusion Committee (Chair)
Year: Junior | Major(s): Global Studies and Political Sciences
Campus Involvement: Global Studies Club, Speech and Debate, and Jacks Cupboard
Senators for the College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences
Wesley Siira
Committees: Finance Committee, Safety and Security Committee and Student Promotions Committee
Year: Junior | Major(s): Animal Science and Agricultural Science
Campus Involvement: Little International, Farmhouse Fraternity, and Agronomy and Precision Agriculture Club
Senators for the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
Madeline Brink
Committees: Campus Planning and Sustainability Committee, Parking and Traffic Committee, Student Success Committee and Government Affairs Committee
Year: Senior | Major(s): Political Science
Campus Involvement: Concert Choir, Symphony Orchestra and Pre-Law Society
Oscar Garcia
Committees: Access, Opportunity and Belonging Committee, Government Affairs Committee, and Student Diversity and Inclusion Committee
Year: Senior | Major(s): Global Studies
Campus Involvement: Latin American Students Association (Vice President) and School of American Global Studies Ambassador
Senators for the College of Education and Human Services
Senators for the Jerome J. Lohr College of Engineering
Grant Sternhagen
Committees: Finance Committee, Information Technology Committee, Academic Appeals Committee, Safety and Security Committee, and Parking and Traffic Committee
Year: Senior | Major(s): Computer Science
Campus Involvement: Joint Engineering Council, ACM, and Engineering Summer Camp
Moises Dereconfort
Committees: Intercollegiate Athletic Board, Access, Opportunity and Belonging Committee, and Campus Planning and Sustainability Committee
Year: Junior | Major(s): Construction Management
Campus Involvement: Admissions Ambassador, Community Assistant, Construction Club and BSA
Mason Pulse
Committees: Student Union Advisory Committee (SUAC), University Activity Fee and Budgeting Committee (UAFBC), University Food Service Advisory Committee (UFSAC) and Finance Committee.
Year: Sophomore | Major(s): Physics and Mathematics
Campus Involvement: Hobo Day Committee (Security), Society of Physics Students, Hacky Sack Jacks, and Honors Hall Government
Senators for the College of Natural Sciences
Victoria Vazquez
Committees: Wellness Center Advisory Committee (WCAC), SDState Health Committee and Academic Affairs Committee
Year: Junior | Major(s): Human Biology and Business Economics
Campus Involvement: New Student Orientation Leader and Prairie Doc Assistant
Matthew Schell
Committees: Intercollegiate Athletic Board, Finance Committee, and Parking and Traffic Committee
Year: Senior | Major(s): Biochemistry, Chemistry, and Biology
Campus Involvement: Chemistry Club, On-Call with the Prairie Doc Intern, Anatomy Dissection Team, HCSO, Pickle Ball Club and Undergraduate Research in RAWC Lab
Senators for the College of Nursing
Grace Barnett
Committees: University Activity Fee and Budgeting Committee (UAFBC), Library Committee and Government Affairs Committee
Year: Sophomore | Major(s): Nursing
Campus Involvement: Fishback Honors College, Pope Pius XII Newman Center, Hobo Day Committee and Taylor Swift Society
Senators for the College of Pharmacy and Allied Health
Senators for the Graduate School
Senators At-Large
Blake Gibney
Committees: Government Affairs Committee, Student Union Advisory Committee (SUAC) and Academic Affairs Committee
Year: Senior | Major(s): Communications
Campus Involvement: Sigma Epsilon Omega, ROTC, Order of Omega, NSCS, Honors College
Avery Dooley
Committees: Academic Appeals Committee, Government Affairs Committee, and Safety and Security Committee
Year: Senior | Major(s): Chemistry and Bio Chemistry
Campus Involvement: Admissions Ambassador, Hobo Day Committee and Honors College
Taylor Tennant
Committees: Senate Communications Committee, Finance Committee and Strategic Internal Communications Committee
Year: Junior | Major(s): Agricultural Communications and Journalism
Campus Involvement: Collegian Reporter, Agricultural Communicators of Tomorrow, FFA Alumni and Agricultural Education Club
Chloe Wisser
Committees: International Affairs Committee, Student Success Committee, Safety and Security Committee, and Student Diversity and Inclusion Committee
Year: Junior | Major(s): Spanish, Global Studies and Geography
Campus Involvement: N/A
Become a Students' Association Senator
Elections for Students' Association senators and the student body president and vice president are held in March. Petitions for the election generally become available in February. In order to run in the senatorial election, a student must file an application and petition including signatures from at least 50 students in their academic college (25 signatures for senatorial candidates from the Graduate School). Information about Students' Association elections will be available in the Rabbit Report leading up to the election and on the Students' Association website.
Occasionally, Senate seats will become vacant during the academic year. In these cases, seats will be filled by Senators-At-Large appointed by the Students' Association Board of Directors. Senator-At-Large candidates must file an application and petition including signatures from at least 50 ³ÉÈËÊÓƵ students regardless of their academic college. When Senator-At-Large positions are open, information will be included in the Rabbit Report and the Students' Association website.