Behrendt takes oath to lead UNMC Student Senate

Leading this year’s Student Senate are Vice President Michael Chapman, left, and President Nick Behrendt. Not pictured are Josh Priluck, secretary, and Jeff Boyle, treasurer.

Saying he wants to be a strong representative for the UNMC student body, third-year medical student Nick Behrendt took the oath of office on Thursday to become the next UNMC Student Senate president.

The unopposed victor in November’s student elections, Behrendt also will be the UNMC student representative on the University of Nebraska Board of Regents.

“Each student that attends UNMC should feel comfortable voicing their opinions and views on matters that concern them,” Behrendt said Thursday. He wants to develop avenues so students may more easily interact with student leadership, he said. Already established are a student-run online bulletin board and an e-mail account to contact the Student Senate president, Behrendt said.

Incoming Student Senate President Nick Behrendt, left, presents a plaque of appreciation to fellow medical student Ryan Arnold, who led the Senate in 2004.

UNMC Chancellor Harold M. Maurer, M.D., administered the oath of office to Behrendt and the incoming Student Senate vice president, third-year medical student Michael Chapman. Dr. Maurer also administered the oath to incoming Student Senate members.

Behrendt assumes his role atop UNMC student government after a year as the vice president. Dr. Maurer lauded outgoing President Ryan Arnold, a fourth-year medical student, as “outstanding in every way.”

“We’ve been blessed with a string of strong student regents,” Dr. Maurer said. “This year, we’ve had a particularly strong student regent representing the medical center.”

Arnold was heavily involved in the selection for the new University of Nebraska president, in planning for the Center for Health Science Education, and in lobbying efforts for the university.

“Thank you,” Arnold told those in attendance. “It’s been incredible. I cannot fully express how grateful I am for the experience.”

On hand for Tuesday’s inauguration of Nick Behrendt were, from left, his future mother-in-law, Marilyn Opitz; his mother, Jeanette Behrendt; Nick Behrendt; his fiance, Becky Opitz; and David Carver, Ph.D., Student Senate advisor and director of student counseling at UNMC.

In his address to the students, Dr. Maurer explained several areas in which students, particularly Behrendt, could assist UNMC in its quest to become world-class. Among the areas Dr. Maurer noted were assisting the university in shaping a tuition policy, helping the university lobby state legislators, being ambassadors “across the state and beyond” to help recruit the best and brightest students, and articulating campus needs in modernizing education.

“If we want to be a world-class academic health sciences center, we need to be able to get the resources, both publicly and privately, to help us reach that goal,” Dr. Maurer said.