By: Journalist Christopher Ungaro (TU)
On the first day of this session, the Senate managed to hear more than 20 bills in what many senior delegates described as a potentially record-breaking session.
How did the Senate operate so efficiently? Partially, its success was because of Sen. Patrick Humphrey, whose leadership, skill as floor leader, teaching ability and hard work have truly set him apart this session.
Sen. Humphrey’s impact, to begin, has helped shape his delegation for a long time. Sen. John Haner described even his initial interactions positively.
“He was doing a great job as unofficial leadership for our delegation,” Sen. Haner said. “He has a passion for teaching so he explains Parli Pro really well, and he just hit his passion for teaching. His mentorship for 0-stars is a great element of his personality.”
He has taken that early leadership and teaching ability, and continued to apply it throughout his work. It is part of what makes him a good floor leader, not only because of how he can direct the floor, but because of how he brings out the best in his assistants.
Sen. and assistant floor manager Trevor Friesen, concerning Sen. Humphrey, said “He has a ton of experience… so he has been able to teach us just a ton which has been super helpful, but he is not like the quote unquote “dictator” by any means.. we all have a say… He has been super helpful, super inclusive.”
One zero-star in his delegation, Sen. Alexis Horton, has been one of the most recent individuals to benefit from his influence.
“He has definitely been a help in session being able to lend a hand when I need an understanding of something… He is definitely encouraging, making sure that we know what we are doing, and just making sure we feel comfortable and also that we are going to be successful,” Sen. Horton said.
His leadership and tutelage have shaped the past and now they are shaping the delegates that will be O.I.L.’s future.
“We have gone through potentially a record-shattering number of bills, and we have still been able to deliberate on them really well, so I think he has been doing great,” Sen. Haner said. “He has still been able to be on the floor and caucusing even while fulfilling his floor leader duties, so I find that really impressive.”