By Asia Fields
Vice President for Academic Affairs
The candidates are Jacob Molloy, Kyle McCaffery, Levi Eckman and Noble Solana-Walkinshaw. You can read their bios here.
Creating a student senate was frequently discussed throughout the debate. Molloy said he wants to get rid of the vice president for academic affairs position altogether to instead pay students to serve on a student senate, which he wants to be as powerful as the Faculty Senate. Eckman agreed and said it’s clear students want one, mentioning the referendum for AS restructure (which included a student senate) that passed last year. Solana-Walkinshaw said he wants to continue the work of the Board this year with restructuring, including by creating a student senate. He said the student senate would help hold faculty accountable and give students a voice, as well as give first year students the opportunity to get involved.
McCaffery did not mention a student senate, but said student participation in committees is low, and that he would encourage students to go to committee meetings. Eckman also said students have not been applying for positions, but said this is because students are not given enough support.
All candidates expressed some level of distrust of the administration. Solana-Walkinshaw, who is currently the AS board assistant for academic shared governance, said he wants to hold administrators accountable to shared governance. Molloy said student power should be increased through student unionization, which is central to his campaign. He said this is essential for students to not just react to what happens, but “fight forward and change things.“
In response to Molloy’s idea, McCaffery said the AS already has problems getting students to serve on committees. Solana-Walkinshaw said the AS is already basically a union, as it is supposed to represent students. Molloy disagreed and said the AS is different than a union, as a union funded directly by members, not through a “random fee.” He said the AS is much more bureaucratic.
When asked about academic advising, all the candidates agreed it was a problem for students. Eckman said advising should be more individual, instead of using a one-size-fits-all model, and that major and minor advisors should communicate more with university academic advising. Molloy said improving advising would question of funding, and that he would discuss it with the administration, but that student power should be increased to work toward this goal. Solana-Walkinshaw said increasing funding is not realistic, and that he would consolidate resources and increase student awareness of them.
Solana-Walkinshaw and McCaffery said they would like to see departments open up advising to students who may not be in the department yet.
McCaffery also focused on bottlenecks and said Western should be hiring more professors and less bureaucrats so students can graduate in a reasonable amount of time. Eckman discussed revising the general university requirement (GUR) system, an issue central to his campaign, and said he wants to expand Dean’s Advisory Councils.
In response to a question about increasing research opportunities, Molloy said he thinks about graduate students when he thinks about think about those who are leading research. He said he would look at barriers they face to doing research.
The candidates were asked how they would ensure the academic needs of students of color are met while resisting the white supremacist nature of academics.
Molloy said he hopes to regularly attend Ethnic Student Center club meetings and work with Students for Ethnic Studies, which he said said he hasn’t been involved in yet. Solana-Walkinshaw said he wants to increase opportunities for students of color to speak for themselves. He also said the impetus for change shouldn’t all be put on the people affected, and he’d do what he could in his position. Eckman said he would never make decisions for students of color without their involvement and sees the role as a microphone to students of color.
McCaffery said white supremacy and hate speech affects a number of students, and said University Police should be used to address them.
“When you say that you’re hurt, whether it’s by physical violence or verbal, I’m inclined to believe you,” he said. “I think that this should be something that were leveraging University Police to try to fix as an issue. It’s a violence issue—physical abuse, verbal abuse.”
When asked about increasing campus accessibility and how he would show support for students with disabilities, McCaffery said he thinks about accessibility a lot, as he has an uncle who uses a wheelchair. He said he wants to address loose bricks and insufficient elevators.
He cited a recent AS Review article, which found 161 instances of elevator malfunctions have been reported to University Police or maintenance since 2015, according to university police logs, the AS Review reported.
“That’s a really scary statistic,” he said. “I think we can really invest in maintenance and fix our elevators and get that taken care of.”
Molloy agreed elevator maintenance is an isse, and said repairs should be made faster. He said he has been meaning to talk to the person in charge of the disAbility Resource Center, as he doesn’t yet know too much about the issue. Solana-Walkinshaw said the AS Disability Outreach Center is understaffed and underfunded. He said he wants more opportunities for students to represent themselves, such as through creating a student senate.
Eckman said it’s not just physical disabilities that should be addressed and other barriers people face should be considered. Elevator improvement is just one area to fix, and access to the Counseling Center and other services should be improved, he said.
Vice President for Activities
The candidates are Ama Monkah and Jarrod Stambaugh. You can read their bios here.
When asked about balancing club funding, Stambaugh said he’d communicate with all the clubs and consider their different perspectives.
Monkah said she’d focus on making sure clubs can fairly and equitably access funds, as well as be able to fundraise.
Stambaugh said he wants to increase club membership and wants to clubs to “leave that digital space” and increase the dissemination of physical materials. He also discussed redesign of the website as a last resort.
Monkah said she’d like to see information about clubs shared through publications like the AS Review. She also said she’d encourage freshmen to join clubs by going to the dorms.
When asked how they would help marginalized identities, Stambaugh said he would encourage ESC clubs and that his ideas for increasing club visibility would promote clubs that focus on marginalized identities.
Monkah said she has worked in the ESC and as clubs don’t have advisors, it’s important for club leaders to pass on knowledge to incoming leaders.
When asked about addressing Western’s history of cultural appropriation, Monkah said she’d use information through visuals like posters, and then have open forums and workshops. Stambaugh said the question was a “cureveball question” and that a lot of that work lies outside the role of the vice president for activities. He said he would listen to people who had experienced cultural appropriation.
VP for Governmental Affairs
The candidates are Hunter Eider and Natasha Hessami. You can read their bios here.
Eider is the current AS vice president for academic affairs and said he wants to be in a position that allows for more action. Eider said he wants to increase student engagement in committees and bring the work he did as vice president for academic affairs to the legislature.
Hessami said she is running after being involved in lobbying at the state and local level though the Legislative Affairs Council and AS Representation and Engagement Programs. Hessami said she will focus on housing affordability, engagement and increasing eligibility for the State Need Grant.
When asked about increasing students’ knowledge of government proceedings, Hessami said she knows students have different amounts of time, and she would create methods to get student feedback that allow for this, including going to clubs and sending surveys. Eider said it’s the role of the AS Board to meet students where they are, instead of expecting them to get involved. He said he would get the legislative agenda done early and talk to freshmen in the Residence Hall Councils.
Hessami said she would avoid partisanship by focusing on personal stories when in Olympia to advocate on issues that matter to students, rather than using national party talking points. Eider said he would lobby for issues he doesn’t personally know about just as much as those he does know about. He said he would get student feedback when setting agendas, and would make spaces welcoming to diverse students.
When asked about ethnic studies, Eider said he is involved in WWU Students for Ethnic Studies and that it’s important for students to know their history. Hessami said as a STEM major, she doesn’t get the most diverse education, and she supports the push.
Asked about voter registration, Eider said it’s important for students to vote in local elections and he has plans to create a parody music video to “Rock the Boat” by Aaliyah called “Rock the Vote.” Hessami said she doesn’t have a song planned, but wants to get students interested in voting by emphasizing the issues that matter to them.
VP for Student Life
The candidates are Anna Lee and Brendan O’Neill. You can read their bios here.
O’Neill is the current Residence Hall Association president. Lee is a current resident adviser who was involved in the RA movement last year.
An RA wrote in a question about continuing the momentum of the RA movement. Lee said she helped write the RA’s letter to administrators last year and was highly involved in the movement. She wants to focus on improving training for RAs around issues of identity, better train RAs to live in gender-inclusive housing and ensure pay increases.
O’Neill said he is aware of the issues and has heard what RAs need. He quoted Hannah Montana, saying he has “the best of both worlds” and gets to work with RAs, administrators and others in his current position and feels this will help him moving forward on these issues.
When asked how they felt about the lack of intersectional identities among RAs, Lee said she doesn’t think more diverse RAs need to be hired, but that there must be more trainings for RAs for how to support diverse students.
O’Neill agreed with this.
When asked about creating a safer space for queer and transgender students, both candidates said they will continue to educate themselves and speak to students directly to listen. O’Neill said he is working on a program like HAVEN to educate first year students and combat stigma around LGBTQ and nonbinary identities. Lee said she plans to work with the Queer Resource Center to make campus a safer space for transgender and queer students.
Discussing accessibility, O’Neill said Western has inaccessible door knobs, elevators and dorms, like the Ridgeway dorms, which don’t have elevators.
Lee also said she wanted to address the inaccessibility of the Ridge and brought up lighting and dorm security.
Lee said ESC clubs are currently exploited for their knowledge, and said she will continue to build relationships with clubs after the election. O’Neill said he’s gone to ESC clubs as a student, not a candidate, and wants to be a “megaphone” for voices without taking over student movements.
Unopposed: President, Vice President for Business and Operations, Vice President for Diversity
Genaro Meza, who is running unopposed for vice president for business and operations, said he is opposed to raising student fees unless as a last resort. He said he has experience with business working for his family’s wedding photography business and being an economics major, but has never worked with a budget as large as that of the AS. Meza was also asked how he would inspire confidence among students, given that he is running unopposed.
“Over 15,000 people and I’m the only one who ran. That should be reason enough,” he said.
Millka Solomon, running unopposed for president, said she will ask students working around specific issues if they would like to be present at meetings with administrators, and will stay updated on their work.
Solomon also said Western needs more services to support and retain students of color, as well as faculty who are currently overworked from serving as resources for these students.
Camilla Mejia, running unopposed for vice president for diversity, said she will make sure the history of student labor behind the Multicultural Center is not forgotten. She also said the administrators must be held accountable.
“Show us the receipts,” she said.