Q: How was the inauguration?
A: It was a blast. I mean, it’s very sentimental, you know, getting to officially do the inauguration and in a way, say goodbye to some [graduates] … It was just an amazing event, just to have so many people there supporting us. And we have so many new faces joining us in ASCWU next year, or at least in new roles and new places. It’s just nice to see that we’re coming to the end of the year, but it’s also very bittersweet, because it means we’ll be saying goodbye to a lot of our predecessors here soon.
Q: Have you been able to celebrate at all?
A: Not really, not yet. I’ve just been doing back-to-back stuff. I haven’t had much of a chance yet, but I’m hoping to do that this upcoming weekend, just to get out of Ellensburg for a little bit.
Q: As the newly elected president for ASCWU, Is there any training you will have to do to prepare for the role?
A: Yeah, so I’ll be doing transition training with [outgoing] President [Malik] Cantu here soon, hopefully, so I can figure out what’s gonna be different from my current role. So it’ll be a learning experience, for sure, very different from what I’m used to.
Q: Do you have to do meetings in the summer regarding anything happening at school?
A: I mean, the board of directors can meet if they choose to, we still have to call a public meeting because it’s technically in quorum.
Last year, some of us met on Zoom, so we recorded meetings from there. When we had to really meet during the summer, some of us came to the office. So it just depends. I know this year, a lot of us are staying in Ellensburg this year, so we’ll be meeting with each other, meeting with our new advisor, meeting with our counterparts, just to figure out where the transition will be moving forward. But summer is gonna be really crucial for us. Also making sure our job postings go up, making sure we have new expectations in the office. Just figure out what kind of atmosphere we want to create, but finding ways that we can get student government back on the ground with our students.
Q: How do you intend to make student government more boots on the ground?
A: I would like to build a stronger connection with The Observer and Pulse and see if there’s a way that we can regularly update the student body and let them know, since Observer and PULSE have a history of being far more connected with the student body than we are. So I feel like us especially as we’ve been working really strongly together this year amidst all the budget cuts, really kind of coming together and finding ways to be more transparent.
This is what this current conversation looks like. These are when our meetings are and then really just trying to be more active on social media. Really just trying to find new ways to be more visible for students, to hear from the President more often, and just from ASCWU as a whole. That is actually one of the things I want to work on, and that’s not even just being more transparent in the decisions we make. It’s just being more transparent about the things that are coming out of our office. Including our committees. This includes our meetings, what decisions we’re making, what events we have coming out. That is really where a lot of our collaboration with our campus partners is going to come into play especially. So one thing I would like to do is work with our VP to advertise more of our committees.
I’ve had a few people come up to me now and be like, ‘Hey, how do I join S&A for next year?’ So really trying to find ways we can be more transparent. And then trying to continue what we started this year with the Senate. We started doing University 101 class visits, and that seemed to work really well. So keeping that as well. This year, when I took office as Senate speaker, I reached out to counterparts and deans and that seemed to kind of work a little bit.
So really, dipping our toes in the water. But I think the other half of that too is we’re gonna be working a lot more closely with clubs next year as well, so making sure we’re communicating with clubs actively as we can. It’s gonna take a lot of planning during the summer to find out what worked in the past and what didn’t. I’ve read the archives. And so I’m hoping to rebuild that relationship [with Pulse and The Observer], because we just need to come together and really just make sure the student body knows. This also includes working with RHA [Residence Hall Association] this year, and that’s one of my other goals, is to rebuild our connection with the RHA as well, because they work directly with students in the first years, and that really helps as well.
Q: Do you have any plans for how you’re going to handle budget cuts?
A: I’m obviously not going to give false information. I don’t want to do that. I know the Board of Trustees’ decision was to turn the quadrennium request into a one year request. I know that was something that we, even I, did not see coming, which I, in a way, I do appreciate, because it gives us a chance to be re-allocated. One thing is just trying to make sure that students fill the S&A Committee for one, and then make sure, you know, everyone is educated on the things that come out of S&A as well. We come out of S&A, so make sure that that committee is well known. And just trying to find ways to work with our campus partners. I know a few of our campus partners already have been open to helping us find alternative funding on campus for programs.
A lot of us who are part of this year’s conversation will be in the conversation next year, really holding the university accountable to really help us find ways to fund these programs, because they’re vital to our campus, especially those in the arts. I saw “Once Upon a Mattress” right after the whole S&A [funding situation], and all I could think about was, this is why we need theater on our campus. It’s the same thing with PULSE and Observer, we need those student voices on our campus. Now more than ever, especially [with] everything happening at the federal level so it’s really going to be trying to find ways to, again, not making promises, but doing everything we can to find what we need to to keep these programs alive. And if that means we have to, we can, say, fill S&A next year and hope for the best for them. It’s just gonna be a lot of different conversations to see what avenues and options we have. But the budget primarily falls under S&A … It’s really just gonna be just trying to keep everyone updated on what’s going on. I think that’s where we can really try to be more honest and transparent with The Observer and PULSE so they can share with the student body, in addition to us sharing it to make sure everyone knows what’s going on.
Q: Is there anything that you’re looking forward to like the most while in this position?
A: I’m just looking forward to just being more active than I already am… I’m just kind of excited just to see where things take me. You know, I’m gonna be less of a, not less of a full front role, but I’ll be still as active as I always am, but just in a different capacity, so much more in that supportive role, but finding the leadership style that works for me. So I think it’s gonna be really crucial for me to spend most of my summer prepping for this upcoming fall, just to make sure that everything is ready as we step into these roles.
What has your experience been like with the hooding ceremony?
So I had the current graduate studies senator, she came and talked to me about when that decision was first coming into light, and so I was a heavy part of that conversation of trying to advocate for them. I had myself and vice president via Senator Weinmann, were really heavy voices in this conversation. We had conversations with Dean Rodrigo, we had conversations with the provost. We had a lot of different conversations and really advocating, but the one thing that I’ll never really forget was when I had a grad student come up to me and thanked us, thank the Senate for giving them a space to just speak and, you know, let them be heard. That’s what it should be for all students… This particular situation allowed me to kind of build stronger connections with our grad community, and I’m hoping that we can maintain that strong connection into years moving forward. So yeah, I was definitely more referring to that particular situation, but I knew a few grad students, but that helped me connect more more with more grad students.
I didn’t even know we had the hooding ceremony, because I had been to commencement, but I’d only seen that event in passing. I never actually had my own eyes, but I could tell the passion that students had for it. Senator Wyman, Vice President Villa, and I were heavy advocates for, and I want to keep advocating for as many students as we can, and try to maintain those connections. Like this year we’ve been building more connections with the DHC students, which has been great, which we haven’t had in years past. And we just closed their special elections to try to get them representation in ASCWU. So, is this really just trying to find ways to connect with those communities that aren’t as connected with us as they could be. Yeah, and that’s been one of the biggest challenges.
