Student Body Vice President Jeremy Lao announced Wednesday night at the Student Senate meeting that Emily Chin, chief of staff of the Office of the President, will fill his current position next semester when he assumes presidential duties for president Pat Hallahan, who will graduate in December.
"Emily was with me since the beginning," said Lao, regarding the process of selecting his successor. "She was our campaign manager last winter, and she's been with student government since her freshman year, so she knows how it works. I had several people in mind for the job, but she was the most qualified."
Pat Corker, current communications director for the Office of the President, will step into Chin's position as chief of staff.
"We have a great person stepping in for me," Chin said. "[Corker] served in the office of the president for three years, and we've been transitioning over the past week."
Lao said that Hallahan's opinion was important to the selection process, and the final decision was a "meeting of the minds," with Chin agreeing to the change.
"At first, I was concerned over the fact that we would be transitioning two bodies, rather than bringing in someone new from the outside without a position already," said Chin. "But the office of the president is very organized, and in the end, there were no problems."
Because she was involved in the formulation of Hallahan and Lao's platforms during elections last year, they will continue in the direction of the original campaign, Chin said. This includes the restructuring of the student government, through the addition of the Council of Representatives and other current movements toward that end.
She added that she would also like to see the Senate take "a more vocal stand on the current issues" and added that she saw "a lot of potential for progress" in the group.
Lao emphasized student responsibility and campus safety when addressing the main issues for the coming semester.
"In light of last year's tragedy and the nature of the campus' weekend activities, we need to make sure that the students are, and continue to be, safe," Lao said.
He also cited the creation of a task force to deal with ticketing concerns, the supplementing of student activities funding and the restoration of services for students with temporary disabilities as other goals he wants achieved.
"All of these are important issues. With ticketing, we need to bring together everyone's ideas to come up with a viable solution ... Help for temporarily disabled students - those with broken legs, etc. - is so necessary, and whether it be through connections with departments or a separate endowment even, we have to find the means to add to the student activities fund," Lao said.
To the Senate, Lao expressed his enthusiasm with the appointment of Chin, and said that he was confident in his ability to work well with her to achieve the year's objectives.
Chin was also excited about the opportunities provided to her and the Senate by her promotion.
"Because of my history with the Office of the President, my comfort with those people and my knowledge of that environment, we can have more collaboration between the Senate and the Office of the President in the coming year," Chin said.
