Anticipating the fall, ASUI candidates participated in an open forum Wednesday to answer questions about their platforms. Candidates at the recorded panel included both the presidential candidates and senate candidates.
President and vice president candidates
Current ASUI Vice President Katie Hettinga and Director of Sustainability Olivia Niemi are running together, with Hettinga as president and Niemi as vice president.
“It always stems from wanting to be a part of the change,” Niemi said. “I always believe it is better to leave something better than you found it.”
Former ASUI Senator Tanner McClain and Madison Fitzgerald are running with McClain as president and Fitzgerald as vice president. Fitzgerald was not in attendance.
“(I’m running) to better my community,” McClain said. “I just have a lot of great ideas I feel I could bring to campus.”
Hettinga toted her experience as vice president this past year as preparing her to take on the presidency, as well as inspiring her.
“I’ve seen how much change can come from one student,” Hettinga said about current President Kallyn Mai.
The candidates discussed what they believed were the responsibilities and roles of the executive branch.
Niemi described the role of the executive branch as a balance between communicating with both students and the administration. This would include monthly meetings with President Scott Green and weekly meetings with Dean of Students Blaine Eckles.
Hettinga added that it’s important to have a strong relationship with administrators where there may be tensions between the university and the student body.
McClain believes that ASUI should not be a polarizing place, with diverse cabinet members.
“I’m truly a big believer in compromise,” he said.
McClain emphasized the importance of placing student needs first.
“I’m not running as a conservative, I’m not running as a liberal, I’m running as a Vandal,” McClain said.
Hettinga admits that she can hold very strong opinions, but knows it is important to acknowledge that, challenging to put herself in other people’s shoes. She said she had grown to be better with this consideration.
“Educationally instead of argumentatively,” she explained.
Rather than controlling the student senate, Hettinga finds it important to be advisors to the senators.
“Our job to be educated at every issue that comes out of ASUI Senate,” Hettinga said.
In hopes to revive the Vandal spirit, McClain wants to bring more events to campus. This includes ideas for bringing back the old tradition of a serpentine at the first basketball game of the season, starting weekly spirit days and holding a fair on the Theophilus Tower Lawn.
McClain also hopes to continue focusing on improving UI’s parking, a project he began as a senator. A proposal is to offer discounted parking permits to students.
While ASUI’s obvious goal is to represent UI students, Hettinga said sometimes the scope is wider than that. She emphasized the importance of diverse clubs and organizations, bringing awareness to things like Ukraine during the previous week’s joint tabling efforts.
“Voting is not accessible to everyone in this country, nor everyone in this university,” Hettinga said, adding that there were other ways to get involved. “We want to prepare students to get involved in the community and global community after graduation.”
Niemi said the student government is here to help students transition to the next phase of their lives.
Making sure students are aware of legislation and bills at the capital level is a central focus of Hettinga and Niemi’s goals, enabling students to use their voices.
As a part of ASUI, Hettinga said the relationship with the state legislature is “incredibly important” in representing student interests.
Niemi made it clear that reaching out to students with firsthand experience is vital.
“I’m not here to put words in the mouths of minorities,” she said. “It’s our job to uplift and support the people first.”
Both McClain and Hettinga spoke about participating in the Idaho Student Association to reach out to other universities, connecting with their student bodies.
In his other goals, McClain has spoken with the university’s career services who have seen a lack of students utilizing their resources. McClain hopes to better promote the services and motivate students to use their help.
Another point is sustainability on campus, with recycling being unavailable on campus. McClain hopes to bring recycling back.
To further promote diversity and equity, Hettinga and Niemi are considering creating a position or board dedicated to the topic.
Senate candidates
Six candidates are running for six seats in the senate. Senate candidates Daniela Aguilar-Carranza and Katelyn Rode were not in attendance.
Hector Guerrero is a psychology major and member of TRIO. With his experience in TRIO and with the College Assistance Migrant Program, Guerrero hopes to represent minority voices, particularly in helping them succeed in higher education.
Brenna Torres is a criminology major, participating in the criminology club on campus. Following the pandemic, Torres hopes to bring back the strong Vandal community she remembers.
“I feel the university has changed a lot,” Torres said. “(We should be) getting the community back to where it used to be.”
Blake Schoo is a freshman studying business finance. His campaign focuses on student engagement and pride.
Jared Sherman is a freshman studying HR management and has been a state officer for Family, Career and Community Leaders of America.
In particular, he hopes to bridge the gap between student housing on and off campus. He referred to on campus tutoring and the library as resources for those off campus.
As a senator, Sherman wants to work towards getting more student feedback during events and throughout the university.
“I think it’s important that students have the option,” Sherman said. “For the feedback to actually mean something.”
Sherman also emphasized the need for an open line of communication between students and ASUI all the time, not just at senate meetings.
As a senator, Schoo hopes to connect with people across campus.
“Just going around and talking to everybody,” Schoo said. “Getting their feedback about what they want.”
Torres noted that ASUI could do better with promoting themselves. The senators agreed that awareness was limited, with many people at ASUI’s own events not knowing what the student organization is.
Another goal of Torres was to work on preventative measures to better prepare students for their classes.
“Help students get prepared before their grades get bad, I think that’s important,” she said.
The key, according to Sherman, was to gain student interest early on in the fall.
“If you’re involved at the beginning of the year, you will want to continue throughout the year,” he said.
A focus of Torres’ is parking, where she is hoping to improve upon students’ complaints.
Shoo suggested alternatives, potentially starting an e scooter program on campus.
Guerrero found it to not be as large of an issue, “I feel the university is doing all it can do to accommodate.”
Elections are now open, with the voting portal closing Wednesday at 5 p.m.
Haadiya Tariq can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @haadiyatariq