David Herbstritt ’17 assumed the role of Student Union Vice President on Jan. 13 due to former Vice President Dennis Hermida-Gonzalez ’16 taking a leave of absence from the University this semester due to a family concern. Student Union President Nyah Macklin ’16 announced Herbstritt’s new position in a Jan. 13 email to the student body. Herbstritt has served as Executive Senator since last February, and has taken the vice presidential role per the Union constitution.

Macklin wrote of Hermida-Gonzalez, “Dennis’s passion for the Union has been unprecedented, and his ability to critically engage with issues that arise in our larger community, and do so with grace, is a characteristic that this Union needs. We are going to miss him this semester.” Hermida-Gonzalez wrote in an email to the Justice, “If I had to leave the position to anyone it would be David. He’s so passionate and driven and is one of the most hardworking people I have ever met. Him and Nyah will make a great team.”

In an interview with the Justice, Herbstritt said that his major focuses as vice president will be on organization and the “retention and training [of] the next generation of union members. We are having a lot of current sophomores, soon to be juniors, who are going abroad and won’t be able to be on the senate next year,” Herbstritt explained. “We’re trying to make sure that those who we have now stay — so we have some experience — or at least run, and we’re trying to think of people in the community who might be good for the roles, who might want to run,” Herbstritt added.

During his time as Executive Senator, Herbstritt developed a new organizational system for managing the Senate’s budget and agenda and was heavily involved in drafting the Constitutional amendment last semester that added new members and term limits to the Allocations board. “Organization’s one of my big things,” he said. “It’s not exactly the most exciting part of the job, but it’s a part I do well.”

According to Herbstritt, one of the primary differences between his role as Executive Senator and Union Vice President is who he advocates for within the Union. “Executive Senator is a position that does sit on the E-Board,” Herbstritt said, “but in many cases they exist to be an advocate for the Senate on the E-board, whereas the Vice President is more responsible for making sure the Senate runs smoothly, has a lot of organizational duties, in addition to kind of being a member of the core E-Board team.”

Additionally, Macklin urged the student body in her email to, “Please welcome David with open arms as he has been an asset to the Union in his Executive Senator position. To say that David is a hard worker is an understatement, and I firmly believe that David will continue Dennis’ amazing work in his absence.”

When asked about what he believes students want out of their Union right now, Herbstritt answered, “That is a difficult question, because we as a union, we have our own perspective and sometimes we get stuck in it. What we think right now is that we really need to kind of be there to bring the community back together. Whether the community sees that as their primary goal or demand of the union is yet to be seen, but I think that if we end up doing that, people will be thankful for it. It will be a good approach to take. And of course, the usual functions as well. A-board working and all that kind of stuff.”

He also noted that dedication is what makes a good Union representative. He said, “You have to be willing to be at the meetings, to do the work, to put the time in. You’ve got to have that kind of drive and that kind of diligence. And, of course, caring about the community helps too. You can be the most driven worker, but if you don’t care about Brandeis, what are you really doing it for?”

Herbstritt will be succeeded as Executive Senator by Paul Sindberg ’18, according to an email to the Justice from Herbstritt. Sindberg was elected by the Senate on Sunday.