McKenna Gervais was named the new president of the College of Arts and Sciences Student Senate. 

Gervais, a current junior, has been serving on the student senate since her sophomore year. 

“All of last year I held the role of VP of administration,” she said. “I worked very closely with Abby Keys, our outgoing president, and she (especially towards the end of her term) started easing me into more of a leadership role.” 

On Monday, Gervais sent her first email to the College of Arts and Sciences student body, in which she detailed some upcoming events, including the Undergraduate Research Day and the Winter Involvement Fair. 

“McKenna is a great leader. I look forward to seeing all of the cool things that she is going to have us do,” said Raj Velakaturi, the vice president of academic affairs.   

This semester the senate plans to host a Sodexo appreciation week, a food truck event and reinstate the Dean’s Service Honor Roll, as well as continue their tradition of midterms and finals study breaks. 

“We’re trying to build off of some of the ideas we had in the fall, but didn’t have enough time to plan out,” Ethan Lorenson, the vice president of administration, said. “We’re learning from our mistakes and trying to put those on to make a bigger impact.” 

Reintroducing the Dean’s Service Honor Roll is one of the senate’s biggest plans for this semester. “Around mid-to-late February I will be sending another email to the student body of the College of Arts and Sciences explaining a little bit about what the Dean’s Service Honor Roll is and opening applications for that,” Gervais said.  

This honor roll will focus entirely on service. To be eligible, students must be in good academic and judicial standing with the university and have completed over 40 hours of service between May 2022-May 2023. There will be a banquet for students who meet this criteria.  

The senate’s next event will be tabling on Feb. 9 and 10 in preparation for Sodexo appreciation week. They will have appreciation cards for students to fill out for the Sodexo employees, which will be hung up in the Brandeis Dining Hall. 

“They [Sodexo employees] are so sweet to us. It’s time for us to give back,” Lorenson said.  

Gervais encouraged College of Arts and Sciences students to contact the senate with any questions they may have. “If anyone has any concerns or questions, ever, just reach out to any senator or myself,” she said.