Student Congress appointed 13 new members and six associate members to fill vacancies left by last spring’s election at Tuesday evening’s meeting.

Jason Robinson, chairman of the Congressional Administration Committee, said the committee interviewed potential candidates for six hours.

“We sat down and interviewed all those who wanted to be appointed last Sunday, and after talking to them, I recommend that all of these members be approved,” Robinson said.

Brittany Pritchett was appointed as a representative from the earth and energy district. Taylor Bitting was appointed as a member to the humanities district. Whitney Cannon, Griff Pippin and Kody Shipley were appointed to represent the communication district. David Ward, Whitney Leslie and Thomas Harrison were appointed to represent the engineering district. Madeline Li Sooey and Hadi Tawil now represent the life science district, and Jammie Walker and Christopher Fitzer now represent the arts district.

These new appointments now make the business, life sciences, earth and energy, humanities and the arts districts fully represented.

Student Congress appointed Jeffrey Riles, first-year law student, as the 2009 Fall Election Chair.

Riles will be in charge of overseeing UOSA Student Congress elections and elections for other positions.

“I’ve got good management skills, and I have experience with student government,” Riles said.

Riles said he felt his previous experiences with student government at Oklahoma City University, where he studied as an undergraduate, will help him in the upcoming election.

Six new associate members were also appointed.

Jess Eddy, Jacquelyn Brown, Taylor Schmidt, Hannah Morris, Juan Casanovas and Anum Younus are now associate members to Student Congress. Associate members do not fully represent a district, but are still active members in Student Congress.

Student Congress also approved emergency funding for the Japanese Animation and Manga Society and the Latin Dance Club.

The Japanese Animation and Manga Society asked Congress for funds for a Halloween celebration.

“This isn’t just a Halloween party where people fool around,” said Brett Stidham, who represents the business district. “This party is more of a cultural exchange focusing on Japanese culture.”

The Latin Dance Club needed funding to bring professional dance instructors to OU, Stidham said.