Visions for the ASUC

First, I’d like to thank EVP Taylor Allbright for her hard work in putting this blog together. Elected officials in the ASUC will finally be able to communicate directly with the student body.

I’d like to take advantage of my first blog post as ASUC President to direct you all to the State of the Association address I presented to the ASUC Senate on February 4th.

In the address, I listed a number of the achievements that this administration has accomplished since we took office at the beginning of this year. These included developments on the Multicultural Center, the Activism Right There Festival, Spring Welcome Week, the Book Swap, Lower Sproul Redevelopment, lowering student fees by $145,000, registering thousands of new students to vote and the Count Me In Campaign.

However, even with the significant progress we’ve made on these projects, there is a lot more work to be done, and I will continue to do everything within my power to get as much possible accomplished to the benefit of the student body. What is important to realize though is that the ASUC President has limited power in this position, and must deal with representatives of the University administration (who are not elected by students). Many of these interactions end up being battles for student power over that of the University.

This battle is impossible to fight without continued student support. During my time in office, I’ve learned that it is crucial to mobilize continued student support for the efforts of the ASUC as far as its involvement in campus affairs is concerned. This empowers student
representatives to negotiate with University representatives from a stronger position, and ultimately yields greater benefits and rewards for the student body as a whole.

For the remainder of my term, I will continue to work on the bigger issues mentioned above, especially Lower Sproul Redevelopment and the Multicultural Center. But I will also work on ways to make the ASUC more relevant to the student body, so that students can take a greater role in controlling their University.

Together, by forming a united student front that can tackle issues of great importance to students, we can continue to improve our campus.