Brayden Hosman, who served on the SGA as a Freshman Senator last school year, was declined appointment to the Student Senate after an 18-9 opposition vote.

“I was taken aback by it,” said Hosman. “It’s always a shame whenever an organization turns away somebody that is willing to dedicate their time to benefit the organization and to benefit the university as a whole.”

Hosman, who serves as President of the WSU College Republicans, was the first to acknowledge that he was a divisive voice in last year’s Senate.

“It’s no secret that we all know that I was one of the loudest voices in the 59th Session,” he said.

In his speech to the Senate, Hosman said that he has reflected on his time in SGA and made a decision to be more inclusive.

“I really see a different Senator Hosman for the 60th Session,” Hosman said. “I’m hoping we can all work together, put aside differences, and have constructive conversations.”

Senator Demetrius Sterling said he believes that people can change, but he hasn’t seen any evidence of change from Hosman.

“Truly, people can change. I’ve changed, myself, from the last senate coming into this senate,” he said. “But I feel like I personally did not see the change from him.”

Sen. Kenon Brinkley stressed that his opposition to Hosman had nothing to do with any disagreements in political beliefs. Rather, he worried about his past behavior.

“We could not stress enough that it’s not a matter of political disagreement. I mean, I disagreed with Paige. . . I disagree politically with almost everyone in that room,” Brinkley said. “It’s a matter of conduct. His persona just wouldn’t allow for a healthy environment for discourse.”

Hosman wasn’t without his supporters, however.

Perhaps his strong supporter was Veteran Senator Dan Corrieri, a senior Engineering Technology Management major, who vowed to resign from the Student Senate if Hosman wasn’t appointed.

“I’ve never met someone so dedicated to their philosophy and beliefs,” Corrieri said. “Whether we disagree or not, I think we all need to understand and listen to people.”

Corrieri left the room abruptly following the vote.

At-Large Sen. Garin Egerton, a sophomore majoring in business management, said that, while many may disagree with Hosman politically they should trust that he truly cares about Wichita State and the school of business.

“I think Brayden is a strong voice,” Hungate said. “I think that he’s smart but I understand where people were coming from.”

Hungate said that multiple senators approached her before the meeting to voice their opposition to his appointment.

Brinkley said that he and other senators talked beforehand and weren’t sure if they would have enough votes.

“We thought there were only going to be about three of us,” Brinkley said. “We were shaking in our boots about being the minority in this opposition because there’s a lot of people that support him, for good reasons.”

“Brayden is intelligent, diligent, he does know how to work hard. However, I don’t think any of those qualities excuse his behavior. . . that’s why there was an 18 to nine vote tonight.”

Without the First Amendment, we don’t have a University,” said Hosman. “So, of course everyone is entitled to their opinions and should be able to voice them.”

Hosman said he looks forward to bettering Wichita State through other means.

Each of the other ten appointments were approved unanimously.

Appointed to At-Large Senate positions were Holly Harpel, Jeremy Hoover, Elle Kabler, Walter Wright, and Stella Yang. Eugene Potts and Jaden Soopene were appointed to Liberal Arts & Sciences Senate positions. Maribel Sanchez was appointed as Honors College Senators. Matthew Miller was appointed as Education Senator. Sonja Rwegasira was appointed as International Senator.

“I’m excited about all the new people that are coming onto the Senate,” said Hungate. “I think that they bring a lot of varying perspectives and that’s always something that Breck (Student Body Vice President) and I have been looking for.”

In addition to the 10 Senate appointments, International Senator Haneesha Vishwa Sai was appointed as Diversity Task Force Chair. She was approved unanimously.

“I’m extremely happy,” said Vishwa Sai. “I will use this opportunity to learn from my experiences.”