In one of the quickest Student Senate elections in recent memory, the student body elected seven representatives to Senate — six new and one returning in a vote held online this weekend.

“We...reach[ed] quorum before the five-day election period was over and had over 32% of the student body cast valid ballots, much higher [than] last semester’s elections,” said college junior and current senator Nancy Nguyen.

The seven students who were elected, with the respective number of votes they received in parentheses, are Iliana Zamorska (352), Colin Koffel (347), Nick Ferrara (240), Daniel Tam-Claiborne (232), Alison Eddy (237), Dave Casserly (212) and Evan “Bear” Kittay (203).

The newly-elected senators expressed interest in tackling a variety of issues, including creating a Middle East and North Africa studies department, revamping the Oberlin website and increasing transparency in Oberlin’s investments.

“I hope to convince the new administration to follow the paths of some other schools by increasing transparency concerning our endowment and how it is invested,” said college junior Dave Casserly. “I also plan to advocate for expanded course offerings in MENA studies, linguistics and environmental studies.”

College junior Nick Ferrara remarked that he hoped to “work with SFC to make them a little less adversarial in their allocation and reimbursement processes.”

Students also re-elected college junior Colin Koffel, the only senator who ran for re-election. Koffel said that he was “optimistic for what we can do this semester ” and “excited to work with the new senators.”

“I look forward to increasing Oberlin’s commitment to environmental sustainability and ensuring that Oberlin’s next president stays true to the Oberlin spirit,” Koffel said.

College junior and current senator Louis Grube was quick to comment on Koffel’s re-election. “I think [he] is a ridiculously important asset to Oberlin’s Student Senate,” he said. “I would have been scared if [he] hadn’t been re-elected.”

Grube also stressed that he hoped the new senators were prepared for the job. Nguyen agreed that Senate is a “great commitment and senators are held accountable if they are unable to meet Senate requirements.”

When asked if he was ready for his first meeting, Ferrara chuckled. “I’ve been to at least one meeting of Student Senate,” he said wryly. “[But] one thing I need to do in the very near future is learn Robert’s Rules of Order.”