If Mariela Frias-Gomez and Camille Naputo win the ASWSU election, the underrepresented groups at WSU will get the attention they deserve. This alone makes them the ideal candidates for ASWSU.

Restructuring the ASWSU administration — one of their goals — ensures that every executive works toward making ASWSU a diverse and inclusive space. More students will be tended to and have their concerns addressed thanks to these candidates.

The first step in their plan to change the current administration is to focus on what students think and confront those issues.

“If ASWSU wants to be present, we have to be going to meetings. We have to be showcasing that we are present,” Frias-Gomez said. “We are listening to their concerns, and we are bringing it back on how we can better the administration as a whole.”

Frias-Gomez and Naputo will make certain they provide assistance to a broader community at WSU than just those involved with Greek life.

“Students all across campus are struggling. If you have one platform, it better be inclusive to all, [but] it’s not,” Frias-Gomez said. “We are not just focusing on mental health and safety. The Cougar experience is different for everybody. That means that everybody at this university has multiple issues that we have to tackle, that we have to advocate for.”

Furthered inclusion and diversity is another major goal for Frias-Gomez and Naputo.

“There are certain communities at this university that feel represented, that feel that their issues are being tackled because these positions are there,” Frias-Gomez said. “But a lot of them aren’t there. We don’t have a safety and climate [committee]. We don’t have a diversity and belonging [committee].”

WSU currently does have a committee for diversity and inclusion, but it only consists of two members. By making every member of the administration learn about diversity and inclusion, more students will feel represented.

“We have a diversity and inclusion [committee], but that’s too much for two individuals to work on,” Frias-Gomez said. “Everybody in the administration should be working on diversity and inclusion. Everybody should be working on making ASWSU an inclusive space.”

All students deserve more advocacy for mental health because mental health can affect anyone. Frias-Gomez and Naputo know that the best way to help students — whether that means students suffering from mental health issues, drug addiction or whatever else — is to give students someone who can relate to them. By investing in peer-to-peer support groups, more students will be inclined to seek help for whatever they are dealing with.

“It’s more empathetic,” Frias-Gomez said.

All students at WSU should have their issues listened to and confronted. WSU does not only consist of Greek life. Representation from ASWSU must be inclusive because WSU has a diverse population with distinct needs.

Naputo and Frias-Gomez are the people WSU needs to ensure that needs across the board are met, not just those of the larger groups on campus. A vote for them ensures no voice goes unheard on campus.