SG Senate President Pro-Tempore
By: Olivia Osland, Contributing Writer
Kyler Dykes recently assumed the position of Senate President Pro-Tempore. During his term as Pro-Tempore, Dykes will take over the Senate President’s responsibilities in the event of an absence. He will also assist in meeting preparation, orientations and trainings. Dykes’ other key duties include documenting proxy votes and standing in as a nonvoting member of Student Government committees, including Food Services Advisory Council, Bookstore Advisory Council and Student Union Advisory Board.
Dykes enrolled at UNF in the fall of 2010 and joined the Alpha Tau Omega Fraternity. Shortly after the start of the semester, during fall elections, he was elected Chaplain of the fraternity. Later that year, Dykes was elected to the position of Vice President for Fraternal Relations and Programming for the board of Inter-Fraternity Council, according to the Student Government website. Dykes continued his involvement by running for the Student Advocacy Committee, where he was elected Chairman in the Spring 2011 semester and remains in this position.
Despite having such a busy school life, Dykes travels home to Orlando on the weekends. He played wide receiver for Orlando’s Winter Park High School football team where he was also a part of the International Baccalaureate program. He still plays football and soccer for fun. He enjoys hanging out at the beach, riding his Yamaha R6 motorcycle and goofing off with his friends. A recent shenanigan plan involves him and his fraternity brothers dressing “like Eminem with loud ‘boom boxes’” to crash Kappa Delta’s bowling tournament. Dykes is sure to make his school studies a priority, but he still likes to have a good time.
Looking back on the past year, Dykes said he wishes he had focused more on his classes. He was a very active freshman and involved with many extracurriculars, but he sees where his effort lacked in school. However, he doesn’t think he could have handled both an active school life and the grades he wanted. He describes it as a “trade-off” because you can’t balance both.
Dykes is majoring in biology with a concentration in Biomedical Science. He plans to attend medical school after his 2014 anticipated graduation. Dykes volunteers for children’s hospitals in hopes of pursuing a career of Pediatric Ontology. He traveled to Kenya the summer after his senior year to volunteer in a children’s orphanage hospital and continues to volunteer in downtown Jacksonville at Nemours Children’s Clinic.
Meet Zak Varshovi, your new senate president
By: Rebecca Hoart, Contributing Writer
The office is his. The stuff in it and the name on the door isn’t.
Zak Varshovi is the new UNF Student Government Senate president as of March 27, and he has yet to move things into his office.
Varshovi graduated from Gainesville High School and earned a scholarship to UNF. He lives off-campus with his older brother, who also attended UNF.
He said he is proud of the direction the university is going with the new biology building and the new health center being constructed. Representing students as the campus grows is important to him.
“The day-to-day of it is as simple as speaking up at a meeting or as complicated as drafting new legislation to make the university more efficient,” Varshovi said.
He smiled and looked down as if guilty of some crime and admitted that history is a subject he enjoys. With a major in history and a minor in political science, Varshovi intends to apply to Harvard law school. He will graduate from UNF in the spring of 2013.
Varshovi is in the pre-law program and excelled in a mock trial class taught by Professor Martin Edwards. Studying case law is exciting to him.
Being part of the inner workings of Student Government is valuable to Varshovi. It is experience he will need in law school, he said.
When Varshovi is not studying or politically occupied, he likes to hang out with his friends and his girlfriend. Movies interest him, too. A member of the varsity gold team during his high school days, sometimes he plays golf.
Varshovi is focused on his studies, his duties in political office and his dream of attending Harvard.
Email Olivia and Rebecca at features@unfspinnaker.com.
