Voting and student speeches for the Executive and class cabinets will start on Feb. 11.
Every spring semester, students will have the opportunity to vote for different positions within both the Executive Cabinet and class cabinet. For Executive Cabinet, students will have the opportunity to vote for Student Body President, Vice President of Student Governance Association, Vice President of Clubs and Congress, Vice President of Intercultural Programs and Vice President of Spiritual Life Board. For Class Cabinet positions, students are able to vote for Class President, Vice President and Activities Director.
On Feb. 11, students will hear from their peers who are running for positions within the Executive Cabinet during chapel. One of the candidates students will hear from is sophomore Santiago Burgos.
“This year, I’m running for Student Body President,” said Burgos. “As I began to settle into my role as class president, I truly fell in love with student government. While I enjoy planning events and managing budgets, I want to have a more direct impact on the lives of all Asbury students. My goal in this position is to improve student life in every way that is realistically possible.”
Burgos’ specific goals include bringing “tangible improvements to student life” as well as advocate on their behalf.
“As students, we recognize the excellent work Asbury’s administration does to maintain high academic rigor and spiritual vitality; however, navigating a university also requires strong student advocacy,” explained Burgos. “I want to listen, advocate and execute. College should be challenging, and I want to help foster an environment where students can step into that challenge and grow.”
Burgos’ campaign highlights his experience with student government, given his two terms as Renewed Class President and active role within Asbury Student Congress (ASC), and hopes that his peers see his purposefulness in everything he does.
“My greatest hope rests with the students I already serve: the Renewed Class,” said Burgos. “I hope they’ve seen the effort, care and intentionality my team and I put into everything we do. The message for my campaign is simple: I’m ready.”
Aside from Burgos, sophomore Josiah Straith will also be running for Student Body President. Despite his adjustment to recently becoming the Renewed class chaplain, he feels called to enter into a different position within student government.
“I never thought I would do it, but I feel as if the Lord has led me to run,” said Straith.
Straith’s campaign centers both in Christ and bringing unity between students and administration.
“I want to hear the students’ thoughts, visions and ideas and be able to communicate those ideas to various administrative figures,” explained Straith. “I want to see the university operating at its full potential, and that begins with unity.”
Voting for members of student government allows students to take the first step in advocating for themselves and fix the areas they feel are flawed. Despite the lack of direct involvement, students choosing candidates who represent the change they want to see is something significant.
“I think it’s important because students often voice things that they wish could be improved on campus, whether that is the caf food or the hours that certain facilities are open,” said SGA Ashton Montgomery.
Additionally, the Executive Cabinet Publicist, Julianne Knox, emphasized the importance of students opening themselves up to opportunities within student government.
“I wish more students would be eager to get involved in student government,” said Knox. “There is so much opportunity that comes with the experience.”
Whether students are hoping to advocate for causes they care about on campus, or support their peers, student speeches will be held during chapel on Feb. 11.
