The Undergraduate Student Congress appointed various Student Government Association leadership positions, including SGA vice president, congressional leadership, election commissioner and a superior court justice at its final meeting of the semester Tuesday evening.
The Rod Jahromi Award, which honors outstanding congress members, was presented to Rep. Elizabeth Duncan.
Electing congress chair
The news: Rep. Caleb Robinson, university policy committee chair, beat Rep. Jacob Schonfield, budgetary committee chair, for chair of the Undergraduate Student Congress.
Robinson was nominated by Rep. Henry Christiansen and Schonfield was nominated by Rep. Elizabeth Duncan.
What they’re saying: Robinson said he intends to work with congress to constantly improve to achieve its best.
“This role that I hope to undertake is not just about procedure, it's about ensuring there are spaces for voices that often go unheard,” Robinson said. “It's about turning frustration into policy questions into legislation and ideas into action, and that's something I think we can all do together.”
Rep. Caleb Robinson was appointed chair of the Undergraduate Student Congress.
Both Robinson and Schonfield said they would focus on engagement as chair.
“I'm sure most of you have friends who had no idea what SGA is until the impeachment came out, and I think we should take this opportunity to engage with the student body, to raise our awareness and let them know who we are, what we do and what they can do to engage with SGA as well,” Schonfield said.
On March 25, former SGA President Carter Strickland was impeached, which then led to his resignation on April 5. Former Vice President Avery Dunlap now serves as president.
Robinson said he hopes to create a congress that clearly communicates, represents honesty and engages with the community.
“Now I'm not here to promise perfection. I'm here to promise transparency, consistency and accountability.” Robinson said. “I want congress to be a place where students don't just pass through, they grow, they lead, and they leave with something real and tangible to show for it.”
The vote: The Undergraduate Student Congress voted to approve Robinson as chair with a vote of 21-12-0.
Electing congress vice chair
The news: Incumbent Vice Chair Aaron Gilson-Bond beat Rep. Leo Carter for vice chair of the Undergraduate Student Congress.
Gilson-Bond was nominated by Rep. Cade Walker and Carter was nominated by Rep. Reese Ball.
What they’re saying: Walker said Gilson-Bond has maintained energy, thoughtfulness and purpose in each of his roles in congress.
“For nearly three years, Aaron has been a constant, reassuring presence in this body, a steady hand, a thoughtful leader and someone whose commitment to service speaks louder than any previous title,” Walker said.
Gilson-Bond said he will continue to improve on his efforts this semester and keep a focus on growth.
“I want to codify the duties (of the vice chair) in our governing documents to ensure continuity and clarity,” Gilson-Bond said. “I think that progress shouldn't stop with one person. I think for next vice chairs, it's important to have those duties more outlined inside of our bylaws.”
Carter said she would work on communication in light of the events of the last semester.
“We just have to attack everything with understanding, knowing that just because we disagree with people, knowing that they see things, doesn't have to be the end of the world. We can still come to a consensus and support one another,” Carter said. “If we're meeting with each other with constant conflict, you just can't create the change you want to, because we can't work together as a team.”
Gilson-Bond said accountability was another major aspect of his platform, not only for other members of the body but for himself. Gilson-Bond authored the articles of impeachment brought up against Strickland.
“I held people accountable, at least helped facilitate that process. So I think that it's very important for me to be able to hold myself accountable also,” Gilson-Bond said.
Gilson-Bond assumed the role of vice chair after the removal of former vice chair Rylee Houston by a unanimous vote of no-confidence on Jan. 28.
The vote: The Undergraduate Student Congress approved Gilson-Bond as vice chair with a vote of 29-2-1. Carter abstained, Reps. Mecca Fisher and Hudson Harris voted for Carter. Robinson was no longer included in the vote after assuming the role of chair.
Electing congress secretary
The news: Associate Michael Wintory beat Rep. Ava Burnett for secretary of the Undergraduate Student Congress.
Wintory was nominated by Rep. Kyle Martin, congressional administration committee chair, and Burnett was nominated by Harris.
What they’re saying: Martin said Wintory is committed to transparency and communication and that he will keep people informed and engaged as secretary.
“His dedication, vision and proof of track record makes him the ideal candidate for this role,” Martin said.
Wintory said despite being newer to the position of secretary than Burnett, who serves as secretary of the external affairs committee, he brings a fresh perspective, deep commitment and a strong record of involvement.
“If you choose me, I promise I won't let you down,” Wintory said. “I'll continue to show up, work hard and support you, each and every one of you, every single week.”
Burnett said she would be authentic, committed and caring as secretary, focusing on building relationships with committee secretaries, committee chairs and other members.
“I feel like you cannot do this role without being absolutely dedicated to the role. It is a huge time commitment. It takes a lot of effort to encapsulate every single part of this role, and I feel if you don't have that drive and dedication, you just can't perform to the best of your abilities,” Burnett said.
Wintory said the most important job of congress secretary is understanding the responsibilities of the position.
“The big three are paid to be here. They're paid by each student here. It's your job to do everything as secretary well,” Wintory said. “It's to get the minutes out on time. It's to meet with everyone. It's to make sure that there's a good community here.”
Wintory and Burnett both said they would continue to take verbatim minutes for meetings, meaning including every word that is said rather than summarizing. Both also said they would perform the role without the use of any AI tools.
“I see no reason why we need to risk the integrity of our minutes just to make our jobs easier when we knew what we were signing up for,” Wintory said.
The vote: The Undergraduate Student Congress approved Wintory as secretary with a vote of 20-12-0.
Appointing election commissioner
The news: The 2025-2026 SGA Election Commissioner Appointment Act appointed Baylor Savage as election commissioner. Savage is an accounting and economics junior and served as election commissioner for the 2024-25 academic year.
Savage also spent two years as co-chair of the Campus Activities Council and as a member of the Crimson Leadership Association.
What they’re saying: Former Chair Hope Rhoads, who authored the bill with Dunlap and Chief of Staff Ellie Wolthuis, said no personal bias went into the appointment.
“I would just like to start this off with — we all went through bias training. I did not talk much about this appointment because of my personal relationship with the election commissioner,” Rhoads said.
Dunlap said they had four applicants for the position, whom they interviewed, but Wolthius said experience trumped all.
“He has handled every election extremely well and extremely timely,” Wolthius said.
Savage said he’d like to work on setting up the future of the election commission. Savage said preparing for next year starts with having an election commissioner to rely on to take his position.
“At this point, I don't think I have that,” Savage said. “We thought it would just be better for me to have this time now to have the general application that's gonna be electing in the fall, have the commission on it, give me more time to meet with people.”
The vote: The Undergraduate Student Congress approved this bill with a vote of 29-0-0. Reps. Bridgett Lapp, Isaiah Wick and Burnett left before this vote.
Appointing superior court justice
The news: The Spring 2025 Superior Court Appointment Act appointed Chloe Harris as a superior court justice. Harris is a senior English major and served as Undergraduate Student Congress secretary for the 2024-25 academic year.
What they’re saying: Wolthuis, who authored the bill with Dunlap, Rhoads, Graduate Student Senate Chair Jordan Norris, Superior Court Chief Justice Claire Grace and General Counsel Maddie Taylor, said they received applications from many qualified individuals this year, so they narrowed it down to students either actively in law school or going to law school.
“You all know, former Secretary Harris is fantastic. Her interview was phenomenal. Her application was phenomenal. She's got deep knowledge about the Code Annotated, the constitution, our governing docs,” Wolthius said.
Harris said she will be attending OU Law in the fall.
“Being part of (the congressional administration committee) has made me very familiar with the code and bylaws and how to do all of the procedures,” Harris said.
The vote: The Undergraduate Student Congress approved this bill with a vote of 29-0-0.
Appointing vice president
The news: The Vice President Appointment Act of 2025 appointed Secretary of External Development Joseph Harroz III as SGA vice president. Harroz is a finance junior and the son of OU President Joseph Harroz Jr.
The Undergraduate Student Congress appointed Secretary of External Development Joseph Harroz III as SGA vice president at its Tuesday evening meeting on April 23.
What they’re saying: Harroz said he intends to continue working on the student government speaker series proposal that was in his original plans as secretary of external development. He said he also plans to guide the Crimson Leadership Association.
“I'm looking to aid (the executive office of the president) in whatever way is possible and however I can help with that and with CLA, I'm just looking to help you guys as much as possible,” Harroz said.
Harroz said he created a mock platform for his interview with Dunlap which focuses on helping students post-graduation.
“It was RISE — so it's helping OU students rise above post graduation. It kind of stems from resumes, interviews, strength in alumni connections, which all lead to enhanced job opportunities out of college,” Harroz said. “I was hoping, through workshops and like career readiness centers … to really help people tailor their resumes specifically to their given majors in their colleges. Because you see that in places like Price and Gaylord, but you don't tend to see resume critiques a lot of these other colleges, which is what people need to get these internships and job opportunities.”
Dunlap said she selected Harroz after interviewing four of nine applicants, narrowed down by the bill authors. Dunlap said every applicant was highly qualified and would have excelled in the position, but she chose Harroz because he's focused on the future.
“We can all agree that the past few months, weeks in the executive branch have been a little tough and a little bit challenging, and Joseph really stuck out to me because he didn't mention any of that,” Dunlap said.
Dunlap said Harroz was so focused on his vision and his platform that he did not mention the impeachment.
“I ended up choosing him because I want to move forward. President Strickland was the 59th president. I'm the 60th president. It's a different administration. It's a different set of goals,” Dunlap said.
Dunalp said although she still believes in the REAL platform, she wants to move away from the previous administration.
“Carter ran a different administration that I'm going to run and I am done talking about our old administration,” Dunlap said. “I'm ready to move forward and ready to go into my administration, and hopefully the administration that Joseph will be a part of.”
The vote: The Undergraduate Student Congress approved this bill with a vote of 29-0-0.
This story was edited by Anusha Fathepure.
