Allegheny Student Government voted in permanent leadership for its finance and sustainability departments at its General Assembly on Tuesday, Feb. 20. ASG was filling three seats: The director of the treasury, who handles the paperwork and behind-the-scenes monetary work; the director of finance, who will handle more of the public-facing work of the Finance Committee; and the director of Environmental Affairs and Sustainability.
All three candidates were introduced by Vice President Sam Ault, ’26, and were approved without discussion or opposition. When the vote results were announced, ASG responded with some of the loudest celebratory knocking this year.
For finance, ASG promoted from within its own ranks; Senator Lyndsey Robinson, ’24, was selected to be the director of the treasury. Ault described Robinson as “a natural candidate for the position.”
“Lyndsey’s got great leadership and great background with ASG finances, and has been filling some crucial gaps and providing a lot of really important labor and help through the process of us not having anyone sitting in the position,” Ault told senators.
Robinson has sat on the finance committee since the start of this academic year. She fills half of a seat that has been empty since the end of October, when Hunter Goerman, ’25, resigned as treasurer.
Andrew Strobel, ’24, applied to fill Goerman’s seat in November, but was voted down by Senate without discussion. Robinson was among those who voted down Strobel’s nomination, saying that the treasurer’s job had to be split in two to be manageable.
Robinson was also part of a group of senators that spoke with Strobel after the GA. Strobel left that huddle, saying “I don’t appreciate being talked to like that,” as he walked across the third floor of the campus center.
When the junior class senators introduced a constitutional amendment that would split the treasurer’s position in two, Robinson spoke in support of the change.
“I feel like having two positions would help smooth things out,” she said during discussion at the Dec. 5 GA. ASG approved the constitutional amendment that week.
Robinson will be joined by Class of 2027 President Ella DeRose, who was voted in to be director of finance.
“Ella has great leadership experience, both from her days in high school and now as freshman class president,” Ault said. “She has a strong background with finance; she’s also already shown some interest in ASG finance, and has been taking active interest in the role and what finance does.”
By moving to Cabinet, Robinson and DeRose leave behind two empty Senate seats, bringing the total number of senators down to 14. The smallest class is the seniors, with just two senators.
DeRose also vacates her seat as class president; she will be succeeded by Senator Aubrey Carion, ’27, who served as class vice president.The final seat — that of sustainability director — was filled by Elizabeth Dyer, ’25.
“Elizabeth has really great ideas about wanting to get more people into sustainability initiatives and it’s shown a huge willingness to collaborate and search initiatives,” Ault said.
All three new cabinet members were sworn in at the end of the meeting and took office immediately, moving to the long cabinet table at the front of the room.
The sustainability directorship was one of three cabinet positions that would be eliminated under a constitutional overhaul recommended by Attorney General Will Lowthert, ’24, at the Feb. 13 GA. Lowthert recommended that the duties of the sustainability director be combined with the Student Affairs portfolio, among other changes.
However, the idea of consolidating cabinet positions faced criticism from constituents, and when Director of Community Relations Cam Lesher, ’24, asked on Tuesday about the process for a motion to discuss the recommended overhaul, the answer seemed to be “no.”
“I think those have to be presented by Senators, and nobody seems interested so far,” replied Class of 2024 President Sasha Holguin.
In other business, Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Kaleialoha Froning, ’24, said that she was working with her committee to draft a resolution regarding the Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip.
“If members of Senate are interested in sponsoring and being a part of the writing or editing of the resolution, please see me after GA or send me an email,” Froning said. “For constituents, if you’d like to voice any thoughts or comments about it, please stop by our next committee meeting this Friday, 5pm, in the ASG office.”
Israeli forces have killed almost 30,000 people and injured another 70,000 in the narrow strip of land since Oct. 7, actions that have been called a genocide by scholars and human rights advocates. Israel has defended its actions, as justified retaliation for an attack by militant group Hamas that killed just over 1,100 Israelis.
Some Allegheny students and faculty have demonstrated in support of Palestine this semester, holding a series of vigils in the campus center lobby at the end of last week, phone-a-thons to encourage elected representatives to call for a ceasefire and a rally last month on the Gator Quad.
ASG next meets at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 27, in room CC 301/302 of the Henderson Campus Center.