The Senate of the Associated Students of the University of Nevada voted no on appointing Joel Martin to the Senate, sent two bills to committee and received clarification on the role of ASUN’s Attorney General in their most recent meeting on September 10, 2025.
The meeting opened with public comment. Several write-in comments voiced frustration and opposition to the University’s new PackAI initiative, urging ASUN to take action on behalf of the student body. Yet another criticized potential Senate appointee Joel Martin’s history in student government, and the only in-person comment was from the director of the DeLaMare Library Jessie Simpson, who thanked the Senate for previously approved tech fees that had been used to improve technology for students in libraries across campus.
Senate Speaker Leaf Acklin read a statement acknowledging the killing of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk, who had been shot at a speaking event earlier that day at Utah Valley University. Acklin condemned violence nationwide and on college campuses.
Legislation
Two bills were fast-tracked and sent to committee to be seen at a future ASUN Senate meeting:
“S.R. 93 – A Resolution to Request Clarity on the Rollout of Pack AI” requests that the University provide a detailed informational presentation to the ASUN Senate about Pack AI, and make a similar announcement to the student body. The resolution urges transparency from University leadership, and asks that these requests be fulfilled before the end of the Fall 2025 semester.
“S.B. 93 – An Act to Use Capital Funds for Technology Replacement” stipulates spending $12,445.11 to replace aging technology in Pack Place and the Frankie Sue Del Papa Conference Room in the Center for Student Engagement. The bill says that the old technology in Pack Place represents a security risk and the technology in the conference room has always worked poorly, causing issues with recording official ASUN meetings which are legally required to be recorded and provided to the public.
Appointee Questioning
The bulk of the meeting was spent considering the appointment of former Senator Joel Martin, who lost the ASUN presidential election this last spring. While several potential appointees were on the agenda to be considered for the open College of Liberal Arts seat, only Martin showed up.
Martin‘s presentation highlighted his past experience in student government and current policy positions such as fighting food insecurity for students and voting against unnecessary student fee increases.
After his presentation, multiple senators questioned Martin. Senator from the Honor’s College, Madison Kitch, asked why he had voted in favor of passing a fee increase to fund the construction of the fieldhouse project, a controversial fee increase that was approved last Senate session.
Martin claimed that upon recognizing the inevitability of the fee passing, he had negotiated a concession with Nevada Athletics that the fieldhouse would contain additional food storage to support the under-equipped Pack Provisions program run by ASUN.
Several senators questioned Martin on the details of how he would accomplish his proposed policy of getting a grocery store on campus and strengthening Pack Provisions, as well as how he would engage with students.
Senator Jason Issa of the College of Liberal Arts asked about his previous election losses, and asked if his appointment to the Senate would be a disservice to the students that chose not to elect him. Martin said that he respected that the student body thought his presidential opponent was a better candidate, but asserted his confidence in his qualifications as a senator. He said that the student body would be “extremely happy to see me in that seat.”
Senator Madison Atkinson, representative of the School of Medicine and Orvis School of Nursing, asked what Martin would consider doing differently in regards to his proposed impeachment trials from the 92nd session. Martin said that his trials were voted down, and that he supported strengthening the enforcement of Nevada Open Meeting Law, increasing records and involving legal counsel to ensure that it is followed.
Deliberation
While Martin left the room during the Senate’s deliberation of his candidacy, multiple senators expressed having negative experiences while working with him in the past.
Senator Max Lucchesi of the College of Business pointed out that students had either voted against him or voted for him in the lowest numbers in previous elections. He also criticized Martin’s alleged violations of open meeting law in the previous session that resulted in the impeachment trial, which was voted down.
After this statement, director of the Center for Student Engagement Sandra Rodriguez reminded the senators to refrain from interpreting Nevada Open Meeting Law in discussing this candidate as it is solely the purview of the University’s legal counsel.
Senator Grace McAndrews of the College of Agriculture, Biotechnology and Natural Resources said that some of the questions directed against Martin were unfair due to his history as a senator. She said it was unfair that questions were targeted based on personal differences rather than Martin’s fitness to serve the Senate.
Multiple senators continued to criticize Martin’s low performance in previous ASUN elections and his policy platform, which Senator Ken Bhardwaj of the College of Science described as “wishy-washy at best.”
Senator Taylor Moore of the School of Journalism said that she had little experience with Martin, and was primarily concerned with whether adding him to the Senate would make the body more effective. She said that it would not, due to the myriad of complaints and conflicts brought up by various senators throughout the questioning and debate. In reference to Martin’s potential appointment, she said “it would be making their jobs a lot harder to do.” Senator Ralph Villa of the School of Public Health voiced agreement with this statement.
The Senate proceeded to a vote on whether or not to appoint Martin. They declined to appoint him by a majority vote, with nineteen senators voting no, and two abstaining.
Riley Overstreet can be reached via email at roverstreet@unr.edu.
Correction 9/15, 6:40 p.m. The word “resolution” was changed to “bill” when describing S.B. 93: An Act to Use Capital Funds for Technology Replacement.
