The legislative branch of Student Government elected the Senate president and chairs for six committees for the 53rd term on April 17.

After a near four hour meeting, mechanical engineering senior Jeff Gao was elected Senate President.

According to Student Government’s website, the Senate president serves as the head of the legislative branch and is responsible for overseeing all operations and components of the Senate. The president’s duties include representing the Senate before all others, overseeing and managing all senators and acting as chair for all Senate meetings.

Political science major Adam Aldridge and public health major Abdool Aziz were also on the ticket for Senate President.

Each nominee was given five minutes to present themselves and explain their qualifications for the position and what their goals would be if they were elected.

After the presentations, the student Senate asked the nominees questions before requiring them to leave the room. Then, students were able to endorse a nominee if they chose, explaining why the chosen nominee should receive the support of others.

The election ended with two votes for Aldridge, seven for Aziz and 35 for Gao.

Gao hopes to reach out to students and organizations, create an educational workshop series for senators and live-stream senate meetings, which are generally held every Tuesday at 6 p.m.

The six elected positions:

President Pro-Tempore: Scott Sandoval

Chair of the Committee on Rules: Lindsay Ruskan

Chair of Committee on Appropriations: Ali Antar

Char of Judiciary Ethics Committee:  Shyam Patel

Chair of Committee on Special Funding: Adam Aldridge

Chair of Committee on University and Governmental Affairs: Jean Cocco

The chairs and Senate president will take office May 7.