On Wednesday evening, Student Senate announced that their Public Relations Committee Chair Staci Sonntag had stepped down from her position and resigned from Senate due to work conflicts.

Sonntag had served as the chair of the public relations committee since the beginning of the fall 2014 semester. She was the main initiator of the largely successful shirt swap that Senate hosted in the fall semester.

“She was a very integral part of this [Student Senate] process and we wish her the best in her future endeavors,” said President Jake Messer. “It’s a shame that we had to lose another executive council member with all of the changes that have taken place.”

Vice President Brooklyn Lampe will fill the void left by Sonntag, primarily because of her past experience with Senate’s upcoming St. Baldrick’s event. After the event, the chair will reopen for other candidates.

Despite losing Sonntag, Senate did fill a vacated seat during its body meeting. After deliberation, junior biochemistry major Jared Lupo was welcomed to the body as a new senator. Lupo had previously been a member of Missouri Southern’s baseball team and now hopes to help make changes on campus.

“I’m passionate about this school, Missouri Southern and the city of Joplin,” said Lupo. “I just want to get involved, serve and reach out to people to help the school.”

When asked about his biggest goal as a Senator, Lupo was quick with an answer.

“There is such a wide variety of ages on our campus and I just want to help connect the campus community and make people want to spend time on campus,” he said.

Senate also officially announced their office hours for the remainder of the semester. Their office is located in Billingsly 301.