Justin Runac was the only independent Student Government senator to get elected in Fall 2011. He is also the only senator who is 38 years old.
"There was a little bit of an age difference; not too big of an issue," he said.
So far, the age difference hasn't been a problem. He mostly interacts with graduate students in Senate because most of the people there are new to him.
Even though the people are new to Runac, Runac is not new to Senate.
He started UF in Fall 2008, pursuing his doctorate degree in the College of Medicine's Interdisciplinary Program in Biomedical Sciences. That semester, he applied for and secured a vacant Senate seat for Family Housing.
He continued to serve in Spring and Summer 2009 and ran for the first time in the fall. He won but vacated his seat in Spring 2010 when he went on a leave of absence.
"My research project in my lab was changing at the time, and it seemed like a good opportunity to take a year away from school," he said.
Runac worked during his leave but declined to say more about it.
He returned to UF and ran for his old seat in the fall of 2011. Although his Senate seat is currently labeled Family Housing, he represents residents of Graduate and Family Housing.
"I felt I could make a little bit of a difference," he said.
Runac has tried to get on a committee, but he said it is almost impossible for an independent senator.
Although political parties have approached him, he said he wants to remain independent.
"He made it very clear from the beginning that he wanted no involvement with political parties, since he felt they distract from actually helping the constituents you are supposed to represent," former graduate senator Matthew Vernon wrote in an email.
Vernon, 27, a former member of the Progress Party, worked with Runac in Runac's second term.
They first met Sept. 30, 2009 outside the Orange & Brew after the fall election results were announced.
Vernon said he recognized Runac from previous Senate sessions and knew Runac already understood a lot about SG.
Runac worked with former Senate President Ashton Charles during reapportionment meetings to increase graduate student representation, Vernon said.
Historically, graduate senators don't fulfill their terms because of busy schedules, he said.
In the past, undergraduate senators have argued that they should reapportion those seats to undergraduates.
"This trend resulted in the malapportionment that Justin pointed out and was instrumental in eventually rectifying," Vernon said.
Still, not enough graduate and international students are represented in SG, Runac said.
At UF, 34 percent of the student population is graduate and professional students. There are fewer than 15 student senators who are graduate or professional students, he said.
Runac said he thinks SG should spend more time considering graduate students' issues and needs, such as increasing fees.
"I hope to introduce legislation this year to reverse this trend," Runac said. "Graduate students play a huge role at UF in teaching undergrads, and they should not suffer from the large financial burden of fees while they are doing so much to help this school."
Justin Runac, 38, a biomedical sciences graduate student, holds a voting seat in the UF Senate representing graduate students. He does not consider himself a politician. "I volunteered because there was no one else," he said.
