By Ryan Allen Wight, Copyeditor
On Tuesday, March 23, Western New England University’s Student Senate swore in its new leadership and membership. Having led through unprecedented events, former President Adetayo Olatinwo and Vice President Amo-Mensah Amofa finished out a successful term by passing the reins to our new student leadership, President Megan Hueras and Vice President Nicholas Tartsinis.
Toward the beginning of the meeting, Vice President Amofa gave a few words of gratitude and closure, saying, “We all have lives outside of the Senate Polo, so I appreciate… that you put on that Senate Polo with a lot of pride, a lot of dignity, and really went head forth in making sure that we advocated for the student body… this is an experience I’ll never forget… we couldn’t have done it without you… from the bottom of my heart, thank you.”
Following VP Amofa, President-Elect Hueras shared a few words of thanks and reflection: “This year was definitely a year that was unprecedented, and we didn’t really expect anything to come… the way that it did… But we were still able to achieve success.”
Next, President Adetayo Olatinwo gave her closing thoughts: “I want to give a special thanks to Melissa Lambert, our advisor… she worked really hard, and she was pregnant the entire time…” President Adetayo continued to give special thanks to VP Amofa, the Senate Executive Board, and body of Senators, with emphasis on special shoutouts for Senators Stone Murphy and Aaron Mantoni as well as Legislative Chairperson William LaFosse and President-Elect Hueras. She concluded, “Thank you guys so much for this experience and this year.”
Several other members went on to share thoughts and thanks. At this point in the meeting, the Senate then voted to adjourn the 2020-2021 term. With celebratory mood and excited spirits, President Adetayo Olatinwo administered the oath of office to Vice President-Elect Tartsinis and President-Elect Hueras.
“Congratulations, Madame President,” former President Olatinwo concluded, “The 2021-2022 term is now yours to commence. Good luck, Megan – I am super proud of you… make sure you kill it out here!”
Having been sworn in, President Megan Hueras called her first meeting to order and swore in the Student Senate’s newly elected members. From there, President Hueras made the motion to nominate and recommend candidates for the executive board. Shannon Murphy was sworn in as Secretary, Sean Alvord as Finance Chair, Angelina White as Campus Relations Chair, Clarice Berardinelli as Public Relations Chair, and William LaFosse as Legislative Chair.
Having completed the appointments for this new term, President Hueras shared a quick thank you. “To the past administration, you all set amazing examples and really left a legacy with this past term.” Continuing, she mentioned the numerous obstacles that Student Senate had overcome in the past year: “Together we created a Senate that will be remembered… From the Black Lives Matter March to mental health initiatives and a push on student wages, we truly all went above and beyond.” President Hueras then closed with a big thank you to Student Senate’s advisor, Melissa Lambert, for always being there and never giving up on them.
As we head into this new exciting term, it’s about time we get to know our representative leadership!
To start, Student Senate Vice President Nicholas Tartsinis is a Sophomore Law and Society major. In addition to his new role in Student Senate, Nick is a Building Supervisor in the Campus Center and was previously the Class of 2023 Council President.
After visiting his brother numerous times, Nick “fell in love with the community aspect of WNE,” thus sparking the journey of involvement and leadership that he is on today. A smaller campus and average class size enabled Nick to connect with both professors and student organizations on campus.
The first student organization that he joined was the Class of 2023 Council with hopes of keeping busy and opening up opportunities for him as a first-year student. Nick also participated in Windham Hall’s RHA during his first year, and he went on to serve as 2023 Council President through his Sophomore year.
When asked why he joined Megan’s ticket to run for Student Senate VP, Tartsinis had a great answer: “…it honestly only took me ten minutes to decide.” This position would permit the two of them a unique opportunity to facilitate individual growth within the student body by listening openly and being the “Voice of the Students.”
Nick himself seems passionate and ready to transform their many ideas into reality. Specifically, he says that “aiding students with the struggles of mental health,” and bettering “communication all throughout the university from the administration all the way down to students… are the two big focuses” of this new Student Senate administration.
Continuing to involve himself on campus and caring to find and solve problems for the student body, Nick reflects, “… meeting new and diverse groups of people… has allowed me to understand the perspectives of different people about life and about their time here at WNE.” Nick’s experience as President of the 2023 Council, which as a student organization on campus deals with Student Senate, has saddled him with a nuanced perspective and the hope of reinventing the Student Senate’s reputation by improving communication and strained relationships with other student organizations.
Student Senate President Megan Hueras is a Junior Law and Society major from Charlton, Massachusetts. Outside of the Student Senate, she is both the Hospitality Chair for this year’s Spring Event and a Contest Announcer in Athletics.
Megan came to WNE for athletics and the Pre-Law Major, for which she’d been looking. Having played field hockey for only two years in high school, she says, “Hearing that a coach was interested in me and wanted me at this university really made me feel… like I belonged at this school.” Playing field hockey in her freshman year allowed Megan to form many relationships with students, faculty, and staff, but she realized during her Sophomore season that she wanted to be more involved: “I wasn’t being used to my fullest potential on the field hockey team and decided to put my efforts and energy elsewhere.”
So Megan joined Student Senate, and she calls it the best decision she has ever made. After two years of playing for the field hockey team, Hueras fell in love with becoming the kind of student leader she never thought possible, helping and supporting those around her, planning programs and giving back to the student body, and all other such activities entailed by the role of student leadership.
Since then, Hueras has served as Production Chair and Hospitality Chair for last year’s and this year’s Spring Events, respectively. She was also a member of WNE’s Dance Team, and she just completed her term as Student Senate Public Relations Chair. In addition to all these things, she has greatly enjoyed announcing and working at athletics games since last Spring.
In her newly elected position as Student Senate President, Megan Hueras is driven to advocate for the student body. Having felt unrepresented and unheard at times in her life, she is focused on making all voices heard and addressing everything that is expressed, since the job of the Student Senate is to represent the students.
A specific goal of hers to increase outdoor recreation opportunities on campus: “This could look like… a pop-up ice skating rink in the winter or even a mini-golf course on campus. I really want to think outside of the box and not hold back and do something that has never been done before.”
Last Tuesday, we saw a legacy of student advocacy and assertiveness passed to a new Student Senate administration. You might be interested to know that former President Adetayo Olatinwo and new Vice President Nicholas Tartsinis both love elephants! And as if it couldn’t get any better, former Vice President Amo-Mensah Amofa’s love for pugs carries on with President Megan Hueras’ love for her 8-month-old Pekingese, Vivi.
Hueras’ Vivi 🙂
