The ASWSU Senate unanimously approved two new justices during its meeting Wednesday night. Senior political science major Alexandra Robins and senior history and political science major Brandon Cal will fill the two remaining seats on the ASWSU Judicial Board.

ASWSU Justice Nicholas Goodman, a liaison to the senate, said he is grateful for the additions to the board.

“We’ve been down two justices for a while,” he said. “It’s great to have a full board again.”

Goodman said he is pleased the new justices want to help move the board away from its reactionary approach. Instead of waiting until election season, this year the board aims to educate students about its purpose and how students can utilize it, he said. If a student has a problem with anything related to ASWSU, they can ask the judicial board for help resolving the issue.

“We are a service to be utilized by the students,” he said. “We’re not a mysterious organization that comes out of the shadows every spring. We are the legitimate third branch of ASWSU.”

District 2 Sen. Taylor Hennessey said though three students applied for the two open justice seats, Robins and Cal did best during senate interviews.  

“Everyone kind of felt unanimously that they had the best answers to our questions,” he said. “We thought that all three candidates … all had a lot of experience and were in it for the right reasons.”

The two deciding questions the senate posed to the applicants during their interviews were whether they interpreted the judicial board as proactive or reactive and how they would handle a conflict of interest.

“It came down to those two (applicants) – basically just how they presented themselves in public and how they answered our questions,” Hennessey said. “Because all three candidates were really well-qualified, either way we were lucky because normally the judicial board is hard to fill as it is.”

District 1 Sen. Angielene Agliam said both applicants are well-suited for the position, and she is excited to see what they do on the board.

Tim Kirima, district 1 senator, agreed and said new faces bring new ideas. The new justices have extensive resumes, as well, he said. Robins has experience interning at a law firm and Cal is a member of various honor societies.

“I think they’re good assets to have in ASWSU,” he said.

The senate also passed two amendments to the bylaws during the meeting. The bills were part of an ongoing process to clarify and condense the bylaws.

PROFILE BOX WITH SENATOR’S MUG:

Name: Taylor Hennessey

Year: Junior

Major: Political science

Hometown: Spokane

Occupations: District 2 senator, vice president of Beta Theta Pi Fraternity, orientation counselor at New Student Programming and student representative on the Athletic Advisory Council

Favorite movie: “12 Angry Men”

Hero: Edward “Ted” Kennedy

Goal for the year: “To increase awareness of senate and how we can help students with daily issues.”