After a night filled with debate over an amendment, the Missouri Southern Student Senate ended, emotionally, when Parliamentarian Cody Martin abruptly resigned to end the meeting.

Martin had served on Senate for more than two and a half years, serving as both a treasurer and parliamentarian at different times in his tenure. Martin addressed both members of the Senate and their faculty advisors before handing an emotional Noah Triplett, Senate president, his official resignation letter.

“Never forget why you are here. We are here –you are here- to serve the student body,” said Martin. Over the past three years that I have been here, the Senate has continued to become more and more neglectful. Not as a whole, but individuals themselves.”

He continued, “If you are here because you view it as a resume builder, you aren’t in the right spot. If you are here simply to help the students, you are in the right spot.”

Martin moved on to speak directly to the Senate executives.

“I have had the pleasure of being one of you before. I’ve served on every committee we have. Just remember, being an executive does not mean be a dictator. You are here to lead by example and you are here to navigate, but never be in control of the Senate,” said Martin.

Martin stated his reason for leaving was that he had dedicated his life to serving everyone else since high school and now needed a break to take some time for himself.

Earlier in the Senate meeting, the body debated a proposed amendment by Senator Cory Garr.

Garr proposed an amendment that would limit the number of combined excused and unexcused absences to three a semester. On the fourth, members would be excused from Senate.

This comes on the heels of a string of recent absences. Currently, Senate has no restriction on the number of excused absences a member can have. Garr noted that their last meeting only had twelve of the nineteen members present.

At the end of last semester, Garr proposed a similar amendment, only to have it struck down because of “what-ifs”. He assured that he wasn’t pushing this because it failed last time, but because, Senate should be responsible enough to be at the meetings.

The amendment was tabled during first reading so everyone could look it over. The debate will resume next week and should be sent into second reading.