Hello, Vandals! My name is Martha Smith, and I am your ASUI President. I am grateful for the opportunity to be Student Body President for this academic year, and it feels surreal that the first portion is coming to an end. I’ve learned a lot in this role and feel grateful for the ASUI team this semester.
This semester, we are saying goodbye to three stellar individuals on ASUI: Rebekah Boyd, who will be graduating this semester; Taylor McKinnon, who will be studying abroad; and Shakil Salim, who is concluding his senate term. We are incredibly grateful for this work advocating for student interests and look forward to where their professional endeavors will take them. Applications for Director of Public Relations and Director of Sustainability are currently open on Engage.
During November, ASUI hosted a gathering on Nov. 13 at the Vandal Healing Garden. Personally, I learned a lot about how to host an event like this, where individuals gather somberly. As usual, I was impressed by the Vandal Family’s ability to come together.
ASUI also volunteered for the Veterans Day Banquet in the ICCU Arena. We helped to serve the meal hosted by Idaho Eats and worked to ensure the event ran smoothly. We also completed our fall cycle of funding board and senate elections, both run by Director of Internal Affairs Lalit Bansal.
We had over 500 students vote in the election and distributed over $7,000 to clubs. This wouldn’t be possible without Lalit, who consistently goes above and beyond in his position.
We elected Izaak Krohn, Erika Amaral, Andrea Leal, and Zoha Aqeel to the ASUI Senate, and I am so excited to see what each of them will do. We’ve also opened applications for our annual Legislative Ambassador Program, which is a stellar opportunity for students to gain an understanding of the legislative process and represent UI on a free trip to Boise. More information is available on our Instagram.
Personally, I spoke at First-Generation Celebration Day, which is near to my heart as a first-generation student, and finished the selection process for the artist who will be creating the ASUI monument outside of the P1FCU Kibbie Dome. These are only some of the things happening in ASUI, but, as always, feel free to reach out to find out more.
For the semester, the Senate spent $1,087.99, the Cabinet spent $1,504.40, and the President/VP spent $1,897.28 on various student engagement efforts, supplies, and events. As we move into the next semester, I anticipate our spring expenditures will outpace the fall because of the Winter Social event and Legislative Ambassadors event in Boise.
For a complete breakdown of this semester’s spending, please feel free to reach out. We value transparency and feedback and can only effectively do so with communication from the student body.
Moving into next semester, we are not experiencing the amount of turnover we typically see as a result of the appointment process, which accounts for the lion’s share of the senate and great retention in our Cabinet. As a result, ASUI is well-equipped to hit the ground running in the spring, which we intend to do.
Thank you all for allowing me to serve as ASUI President. Here’s to one more semester! Until next time, Go Vandals!
Martha Smith
ASUI President