ASUWT election forum recap
On Thursday Oct. 15, ASUWT hosted an open forum for hopeful senators. The participants included candidates Jasmine Maggo for the School of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences and Teresa Dennerlein for the Milgard School of Business, and was moderated by Election Administration Chair Valeria Santiago and The Ledger’s Mitchell Fermo. Following the conclusion of the forum, Santiago offered a summary regarding the structure, as well as a recap and her overall thoughts of the event.
“The Public Election Forum is an event where candidates have the opportunity to answer questions and explain some of their goals for their position, but also get an understanding of what kind of person they are,” Santiago said.
During the forum, the candidates presented their thoughts in one minute blocks, excluding opening and closing statements. Candidates touched on several aspects of campus life, what they would like to accomplish if elected and how they could ensure that the students they represent will have their voices heard.
“I think it’s really important for students’ voices to be heard and I think it’s important for students to know their voices are heard,” said Dennerlein during her opening statement. “I think those are different things. I think it’s really important to have transparency and accountability in any form of public or private governance because I feel it instills a sense of trust.”
During the discussion, a question was raised to the hopeful senators about what one big issue they would want to focus on during their term. Maggo used this to touch on the campus’ closure along with the resources that students are currently unable to access.
“Because everything is online due to COVID, students aren’t getting the resources that they could at the campus like having someone to talk to,” Maggo said. “Going to a counsellor, going and having a one-on-one conversation with somebody apart from school.”
Another question posed during the forum was in relation to the ways in which the candidates would use their position to amplify student voices, especially those who are not being heard.
“My way of uplifting students’ voices is to make sure that I am listening to them and that I am actively creating an opportunity for people to come talk to me about their concerns,” said Dennerlein.
Maggo answered a question regarding ASUWT and how it can become more well known while also working to involve more students in the future.
“It starts with you. Tell your friends that they can run. Get to know why they don’t know about it, Maggo said. “Most students don’t realize they are ASUWT,”
While the candidate forum was only for students who successfully completed their candidate filing form, students who are still interested in running for a senate seat can still do so as a write-in candidate.
“In the closing of the forum our ASUWT advisor highlighted that although ASUWT’s Candidate Filing Form closed, there is still a chance to participate in the election as a write-in candidate,” said Santiago
With 15 Senate positions up for election, ASUWT is highly encouraging interested students in running for a position.
“Noting that we must fill in the positions of the Senators, because the more students that are involved with ASUWT, the more it reflects the student body at UWT and can help address the current concerns on campus,” Santiago said.
Voting opens on Oct. 19 and closes the 25 at midnight. If there are any questions regarding voting or the writing in, go to the ASUWT elections page on the UWT website. If you would like to reach out directly, email asuwteac@uw.edu.
