New Executive Cabinet members have been elected for next year’s Asbury Student Congress.
During the chapel on Feb. 11, candidates addressed the student body in their speeches, where they outlined their intentions.
Brihanna Basil led the speeches off, highlighting her experience as the Student Intercultural Representative for the Renewed Class. Through her experience working on her class cabinet, she had the “ability to get familiar with the role.”
This familiarity in working with the Student Intercultural Program (SIP) led her to see aspects that could be improved, which inspired her to run for the position.
“Unfortunately, while attendance at some of our events hasn’t always been where we want it to be, I have seen real progress,” said Basil. “I hope that next year during our events that I’ll be able to find more effective ways to promote these educational events so that more students feel invited and excited to participate.”
The day following the chapel speeches, Basil was announced as the new Vice President of SIP.
Following Basil, Alison Barajas announced her intentions to run for Vice President of the Student Governance Association.
“As Vice President, I will listen to you, advocate for you and work to make sure your voices matter,” said Barajas. “I will do this by being intentional about building a team of people who are passionate about serving others and committed to creating positive change for our campus.”
Since the chapel, Barajas has been announced as the new VP of SGA. While she is still in the process of choosing her SGA team, she feels “very excited” to start her work in this position.
“I want students to know that I am very passionate about this role, and I would absolutely love to sit down with you and discuss anything that may be on your mind,” expressed Barajas. “My job is to serve the community and the best way to do that is with conversations; do not hesitate to reach out to me.”
While the other candidates stood alone in running for their positions, the student body president position had multiple candidates. Santiago Burgos, Julianne Knox and Josiah Straith spoke during the chapel of the ways they planned to improve upon campus life, and ultimately, Santiago Burgos was announced as the new Student Body President.
In chapel, Burgos discussed his goal in improving student life and the smaller aspects on campus that keep it running.
“I want to create an environment optimized for your growth, your success, your excellence and most importantly your spiritual vitality,” explained Burgos. “That means polishing the systems that you use every day, like laundry, like the dorms, like the student center. So, your learning environment is set up for success, because sometimes leadership means talking on a stage, but most of the time, it means fixing the everyday things that are broken.”
After the announcement of receiving this position, Burgos’ goal has remained the same in desiring to help students and create communication between the student body and the Executive Cabinet.
“I want to emphasize first that my main goal as student body president is to achieve meaningful, quantifiable differences of every size on AU’s campus,” said Burgos. “You can also expect tons of communication; leadership is an open dialogue, not a closed loop. My cabinet will always be making sure it communicates effectively and with intention.”Although Basil, Barajas and Burgos will not start their positions until next fall, they encourage students to communicate with them about their needs or questions they may have. They can be contacted through santiago.burgos@asbury.edu, alison.barajas@asbury.edu and brihanna.basil@asbury.edu.
