ASWSU Sen. Kyle Montgomery, confirmed on Feb. 1, recalled his friendship with Dash Mortell as a catalyst in his decision to run for the Senate.

The Senate confirmed both Montgomery and Sen. Parker Ruehl to the positions of College of Communication senator and College of Arts and Sciences senator respectively.

Montgomery said he and Mortell, his fraternity brother at Beta Theta Pi, had planned to run together for positions on either the Interfraternity Council or the ASWSU Senate. After Mortell’s death, he was discouraged to continue with his plans to run until he became friends with Sen. Kevin Schilling.

Montgomery said Schilling convinced him to run for the position once it opened up and he was excited to be working alongside him and his two fraternity brothers, Ruehl and Sen. Brad Hawkins.

Montgomery speculated that he and Ruehl had more experience working together than anybody on the Senate, since they both serve as executives in Beta Theta Pi. Ruehl is the president while Montgomery is the house manager.

When asked why he wanted to become an ASWSU senator, Ruehl said he has “a passion for the university as a whole” and that he was happy for the “opportunity to effect change on campus.”

Ruehl said his goal as a senator was to make “everyone feel welcome on campus.” He said his college is host to a wide range of majors and he wanted to make sure he heard everyone’s voices.

“If anyone from the College of Arts and Sciences has something that they wanted to see happen at WSU, they can bring it to me and I will bring it to the ASWSU Senate,” Ruehl said.

Ruehl said his experience as the president of his fraternity would directly translate into working on the Senate.

“I’m honored to be serving on the Senate,” Ruehl said, “and go Cougs.”

Montgomery said some of his ideas included a change around campus, including improving communications between the university and students as well as getting more Communications 300 tutors.

“I know I can succeed in this position,” Montgomery said, “and I look forward to working with the rest of the Senate.”