Marshall University INTO students were elected to represent the INTO MU program as senators in the Student Government Association for the first time.
Vinay Penematsa and Jagan Pagala were elected Tuesday after two days of paper ballot elections.
Students voted for two of the eight students nominated.
Mariah Shepard, volunteer worker for the ballot, said more than 100 people voted.
Cody Jones, diversity and veteran’s affairs liaison of SGA, and Rajesh Kodali, SGA senator, said they saw a need for representation of INTO MU students in SGA.
Jones and Kodali created a bill for the representation of INTO MU students and presented it to the SGA.
“We hope that by having two senate seats, we will see that international student issues, specifically INTO MU student issues, will be brought up by the SGA,” said Stephanie Collier, director of student experience at the INTO MU center. “It’s also an opportunity for our students to participate in American government style operations.”
Requirements for the nominations include that anyone could be elected as long as they had completed at least one successful semester at the INTO MU center.
The INTO MU program helps international students with their English skills.
Cody Hatten, president pro tempore, helped with the bill and said it is important to give Marshall international students a voice in the student government body.
“The opportunity was never really there since they haven’t been there that long,” Hatten said, “and now seemed like a good a time as ever.”
Caitlin Fowlkes can be contacted at [email protected].