This past Wednesday, Nov. 8, the Student Association was greeted by multiple guests, two of which were candidates for the student court. 

The two new members of the student court are Bella Lovinger and Chris Paul. Lovinger is a first year student and undecided but wants to have career in legal studies. Paul is a junior majoring in political science and wants to pursue law. 

During this meeting the Senate asked the new student court nominees questions and they got to know a little bit more about these candidates before the new members of the court officially started. Afterward these two students were swore-in and were immediately and officially made a member of the Student Association’s Court as justices.  

The responsibilities of student court are to make sure that the Student Association and student organizations are following proper procedures and following UWL’s school constitution.  

The court will evaluate two broad types of cases. These include violations related to student government, both in the legislative and executive branches. Also, student organization violations and if people are having problems with a certain organization. The court continues to meet biweekly to discuss how to tackle cases. 

When looking for new candidates for the student court Jacob Schimmel President of Student Association wanted people who would be in the court for a couple years and also had a background in political science. “Both of these new justices have a lot of prior experience, whether it was in high school or in college of dealing with legal related matters and just having a legal oriented brain,” explained Schimmel. 

These new justices have a background with legal matters and are interested in it, and they also hope to pursue legal matters in the future. Another qualification when evaluating nominees is whether these justices could set aside their biases and if they were able to look at both sides of a story.  

Student Association set out to nominate new justices with new vacancies opening, many graduating soon. Student Association explained that justices on the court should be familiar with constitutional documents, bylaws, and UWL matters and by bringing younger justices into the organization, these new members are able to familiarize themselves with these documents for longer terms. 

Looking forward Lauren Mason, Vice President of Student Association, wants more students to know that the student court is a resource that they can use, “I want students to know that they can use student court. I want them to know that they’re here if they have any issues within their organization or with student government.” 

The student senate is somewhere students can come to raise complaint if something is wrong with an organization or if someone has been treated unfairly. The student court can be used with a variety of problems and is open for all students and all organizations on campus.