ASWSU’s summer activities were the focus of the first Senate meeting of the fall semester, as ASWSU Vice President Maccabee Werndorf and President Luke Deschenes went over what they have accomplished and their future plans. The Senate also approved nominees for two distinct positions.
Faculty advisor, Matt Shaw, and 19 of the 21 senators of ASWSU representing each academic college, along with uncertified students and students at large, were also at the meeting.
The meeting began with a recap of ASWSU’s activities over the summer, which included holding introductory meetings for different groups across campus, tabling during New Coug orientation, and meeting with the chief of police of the Pullman Police Department, according to Deschenes.
“A lot of our time was spent meeting with people and preparing for the upcoming year,” said Deschenes. “We met with university leaders to just put ASWSU’s name out there.”
Deschenes passed around a paper allowing senators to nominate themselves for positions on various committees, including the newly formed tech fee committee which recommends a budget proposal for expenditures of WSU Pullman technology and revenue, in adherence with state law and university policy, according to Deschenes.
This paper also included Werndorf and Deschenes’s newly formed transit advisory group, which will focus on improving campus bus stops and bus routes.
Faculty senate committees that have openings for nominees are admissions and enrollment, the library committee, the syllabus committee, the athletics council and the university academic advising executive council, Deschenes said.
Finally, the senate voted on the positions of Director of Student Legal Services (SLS) and general manager of KZUU, a radio station owned and managed by WSU in Pullman. The nominees were Sophie Majia and Caden Blessing.
Majia is a senior double majoring in political science and philosophy on a pre-law track, who has previously served as the Associate Director of Student Legal Services.
“Student legal services is a free legal aid resource for all WSU students,” said Majia. “Everyone who walks into our office gets free legal help.”
SLS has hired and on-boarded all 13 of its new interns, according to Majia, and will officially reopen their office next week after having to shut down due to the pandemic.
According to Majia, SLS plans on holding two programming events in the duration of this school year, to help students learn about their rights and how to interact with police.
“I’ve served a lot of time in the office, so I know all the ins and outs,” said Majia. “I’d love to talk to any of you guys about SLS, because we help everyone from Pullman to Everett to Vancouver to Global.”
Majia was unanimously elected to the position and will now officially serve as the Director of Student Legal Services.
Blessing is a senior studying apparel merchandise and has worked at KZUU for three years. He has served as General Manager of KZUU in the last year.
Blessing hopes to rebuild the community presence that KZUU once had, and has worked towards this by collaborating with the Student Entertainment Board for CougFest. He plans to get KZUU involved in more community events and intends to use the platform to promote smaller artists.
“Looking back at the history of KZUU, we’ve really had a lot more presence, so post-COVID we’re trying to get that momentum back,” said Blessing.
Blessing was also unanimously voted for the position and will now serve as the General Manager of KZUU for another year.
On Friday, the ASWSU executive board will be tabling on Terrell Mall from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. to increase student awareness of ASWSU activities, according to Werndorf.
