A summer of inaction set ASUWT back months
This fall’s turmoil in ASUWT shows how quickly government fails when communication stops.
By J.A. Aleman
For the first time in campus history, the Associated Students of UW Tacoma (ASUWT) removed its sitting president, Elias Feleke, after a unanimous vote by the Senate. It was not a decision made lightly, nor was it the product of campus politics. The story that emerged from senators and executive board members is much simpler, and also more frustrating: The president stopped doing the job.
The truth is, when the student government leadership collapses, the entire campus feels the consequences.
Members of ASUWT described the summer as marked not by transition or preparation, but by silence. After taking office in mid-June, Feleke was largely absent from the responsibilities that come with leading student government.
According to multiple officials, weeks passed with messages going unanswered, deadlines were missed and the most basic function of any administration, which is simply showing up, fell apart.
“I’m hearing it from other executive board members. I’m hearing it from every single senator that we don’t know where this guy is, and we’re lacking in leadership,” said Bryce Scholten, ASUWT Senator for School of Interdisciplinary Arts & Sciences and Speaker of the Senate.
Student government may not feel as dramatic as national politics, but it is still government. It manages student dollars, oversees hiring, ensures compliance with state rules and represents the needs of more than 5,000 students. When the person elected to guide that work disappears, everything underneath begins to slide.
According to ASUWT’s bylaws, the president is responsible for ensuring meetings comply with Open Public Meetings Act (OPMA) and that required trainings are coordinated with the vice president and Director of Internal Affairs. The OPMA is a state requirement that mandates public officials complete this training within 90 days of taking office.
Sources told the Ledger, had the Vice President not taken the initiative to organize the training, ASUWT officials, including brand-new senators could have faced personal fines of $500 for the first offense and $1,000 for each subsequent offense, according to the Municipal Research and Services Center (MRSC). That is a failure of responsibility, not just a mistake.
Hiring delays were another red flag. Outgoing and incoming administrations typically sign an agreement to begin hiring early, ensuring student staff are trained and ready by fall. Everyone agreed to sign except the president because he had vague grievances with the former administration. His refusal, and eventual last-minute signature, pushed the timeline so far back that key positions were not filled until October. That delay affected everything from legislative outreach to basic office operations.
But the issue was also secrecy. Senators said they learned that Feleke made decisions without informing the executive board or the Senate, including signing ASUWT onto a statewide financial audit and sending a nomination to the UW Board of Regents without following the required process. These actions were more than procedural missteps because they damaged trust even further within the student government.
Officials said the former president did face a personal situation that left him without access to his laptop for several weeks but emphasized that the setback did not justify months of silence. They noted that he never informed the team until September and still had access to university resources, including a desktop in his CSI office, which made the prolonged communication gap harder to understand.
Feleke was also being paid throughout the summer from a stipend funded by student fees, even as essential duties went unfinished. This was difficult to overlook by ASUWT and gave one more reason and justification for the removal.
“A lot of their reasoning was based on that there was already too much damage being done,” said Maxwell Kao, Director of Internal Affairs.
The ASUWT Constitution states that executive officers may be removed if they fail to carry out the duties of their office or fail to represent student interests. The Constitution requires the Senate to review complaints, examine evidence and, if necessary, vote on removal with a two-thirds majority.
Eventually, the Senate had to make a choice: continue working without a functioning president or call for a formal hearing to clean the slate. After reviewing evidence, statements and timelines, the Senate voted 7-0 to remove Feleke from office.
There was no joy in that vote or celebration, only necessity.
The line of succession moved forward, and the Vice President was sworn in as ASUWT’s new president. Members of student government told the Ledger that the transition has brought a sense of relief. Meetings are happening again. Communication has returned and leaders feel they finally have the clarity they needed months ago.
But catching up is not the same as being on track. ASUWT is still working through the fallout of a summer where almost nothing happened, and while the organization recovers, the bigger lesson here is not about one student or one administration. It is about why student government matters.
When leaders fail to communicate, students lose services. When leaders miss deadlines, programs stall. When leaders disregard procedure, trust breaks down and when leaders go silent, the people they serve lose their voice.
The Senate’s unanimous vote was not punishment, but it was a reminder that titles alone do not make leadership. Actions do.
The Ledger reached out to Feleke for comment and is waiting for a formal response per his request.
If there is one thing I hope comes out of this moment, it is that more students pay attention. ASUWT meetings are public. Senator positions are open. Feedback is welcomed and student government, at its best, is not a distant body. It is a vehicle for change on this campus.
But it only works when students show up, and when they do, as this fall has proven, leadership must show up too.
