Even after he moved to Idaho Falls when he was in seventh grade, Cruz Botello had never heard of Moscow, Idaho.
Today, not only has Botello found a home at the University of Idaho, he is also the newest president of ASUI.
Student leadership is nothing new for Botello. When he was a senior at Skyline High School in Idaho Falls, he won his bid for vice president of the student body.
Despite his involvement with student leadership, college still wasn’t a reality for Botello until later. In fact, it wasn’t until after his high school graduation that he considered UI.
Botello said he was contacted multiple times by the Office of Multicultural Affairs at UI to inform him he was a potential candidate for a diversity scholarship. Botello credits the director of Multicultural Affairs, Jesse Martinez, for getting him to take a tour of the school.
“He made sure that I felt that it wasn’t something that was unattainable,” Botello said.
Before he was contacted by the school, Botello said college had just been an idea. No one in his family had ever pursued a degree.
Botello was raised by a hardworking, single mother who did whatever she could to provide for her four children. It was during that time that he felt a struggle to tell his mother he would be leaving Idaho Falls to pursue higher education. But since that news was revealed, Botello said his mother supports him in his goals.
“She is thrilled with everything I’ve been doing,” Botello said.
Botello enrolled at UI in fall of 2014, and joined the Phi Gamma Delta (FIJI) Fraternity, where he eventually became the recruitment chairman. In spring 2015, he ran for an ASUI senator position.
Then, in 2016, Botello teamed up as the running mate for fellow ASUI member, Austin Karstetter, who Botello met in FIJI and became close friends with. The pair snagged a narrow win in April with 50.6 percent of the vote.
“It was phenomenal,” Botello said.
Karstetter’s presidency did not last long, though. July 27, Karstetter announced his resignation from office, leaving his chief of staff, Bailey Thomas, as a stand-in until Botello takes up the position this fall.
Karstetter said he was offered different opportunities, including an internship in Washington D.C. in September. Along with ASUI, Karstetter will also leave behind his positions in FIJI, the Homecoming Committee and the Student Alumni Relations Board.
“I believe everyone was quite surprised,” Botello said of the resignation.
ASUI Senator Tanner Beymer said he was made aware that Karstetter was considering resigning, and was consulted about the process, since he has written some of the rules and regulations that ASUI abides by.
“Austin’s decision to resign was entirely his own. I mean, there’s no process by which any decision was, you know, made on his behalf,” Beymer said.
Botello said Karstetter had informed him he was contemplating resignation for personal reasons. Karstetter encouraged Botello to maintain the platform they created, which emphasized student safety, textbook affordability and mental health awareness, among other things.
Botello said a few ASUI members have expressed a desire to leave in light of Karstetter’s resignation, but couldn’t immediately provide specifics.
Botello said Karstetter has faith in him to take over the presidency. Karstetter echoed those statements, and praised the rest of the team.
“The team for ASUI is phenomenal,” Karstetter said.
When it comes to being a student, Botello said he is planning on making some changes, including changing his major as soon as school starts, from sociology to organizational science. He also plans on dropping some classes in order to balance his other responsibilities.
Botello said he is excited to be president, though he had doubts initially.
“Originally, I feared that I did not know enough about the presidential role in order to take on the position,” Botello said.
But many of Botello’s peers said he is ready for the task.
“I’m really excited to see Cruz come out of his shell,” Beymer said. “Cruz has, by far and away, exhibited rare qualities of fine leadership throughout this process. He never expected to be ASUI president, but when it became evident that that was going to happen, he stepped right up to the plate and he’s so far performed astonishingly well.”
Taylor Nadauld
can be reached at