The University of Iowa Undergraduate Student Government’s 2024-25 senate gathered to make its first vote Tuesday on its speaker and pro-tem. 

In unanimous votes, new speaker of the senate Ijeoma Ogbonna and senate pro-tempore Charlie Brink were sworn in during Tuesday night’s meeting and ran uncontested.

Ogbonna said she is excited to be back in the Senate after serving this past school year as the cabinet director. She expressed her concerns with the executive cabinet’s connection with the at-large senator. Her main goal as speaker is to bridge that gap and increase communication and familiarity across the organization.

“I would like to serve as your Speaker of the Senate to work with you all in making this organization the most approachable and outward-facing service provided for the student body on campus because when we boil it down, that is exactly what Undergraduate Student Government is,” Ogbonna said during her speech before her election.

Brink served the 2023-24 school year as an at-large senator, and she explained that her close relations with other senators and freshness in the governing body made her the ideal candidate for Senate Pro-Tem. 

“As a first-year senator, I’ve experienced a lot of confusion navigating communication,” Brink said in her speech before her election. “If I’m being honest, I didn’t have the opportunity to get to know any member of leadership within USG. Its main flaw as an organization is there’s a disconnect between leadership and the Senate, and as Pro-Tem, I would make it my primary goal to bring these two groups closer together.”

All 14 members of the 2024-25 executive cabinet and members of the student judicial court were also sworn in during the meeting.