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Advocacy, accountability and communication were central themes to this year’s first official campaign forum for ASUW elections candidates.

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The forum moderator holds up a “15 seconds remaining” sign in the crowd at the first official campaign forum.

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Presidential candidate Andrew Lewis

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Presidential candidate Dalia Amin

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Presidential candidate Conor McLean

Candidates running for positions on the ASUW Board of Directors participated in a forum yesterday hosted by the Residence Hall Student Association (RHSA), the Interfraternity Council (IFC) and the Panhellenic Association.

At the first official forum of the election season, most candidates talked about how they would reach out to student groups — specifically, to the residence halls and the Greek community.

Candidates started out by introducing themselves and their platforms before responding to questions from RHSA, IFC and Panhellenic representatives. Each candidate focused on issues related to the duties of his or her desired position. The main focus for presidential candidates was advocacy efforts.

Andrew Lewis of the Our Future ticket focused on higher-education advocacy as important for the association, and said at the forum that he was willing to allocate more money from the ASUW’s budget toward advocacy efforts. Conor McLean of the Huskies United ticket said he felt students needed to unite against budget cuts. Dalia Amin of the Imagine UW ticket said that she felt advocacy and awareness were key, putting the focus on collaboration between student groups.

The vice presidential position works on internal affairs, and candidates spoke about how they would reach out to residence halls and the Greek community, as well as identifying their specific goals.

All three focused on one of the largest parts of the vice president’s job description: financial responsibility. Will Hagen of Imagine UW said he’d like to see “a lot more financial responsibility” within the association, and Sam Weinstein of Our Future said she wants to prioritize how ASUW spends its money to make sure they are serving students effectively.

“One of my goals is to make sure that each of the particular entities are using their money wisely and reaching out to students,” Jocelyn McCurtain of Huskies United said.

Candidates running for the position of director of policy and procedures spoke about issues involving advocacy, specifically why students in the Greek community should be involved in lobbying for state funding for higher education. William Dow of Huskies United said that while there is a group of students that consistently lobby, there needs to be more representation in Olympia. Zerina Curevac of Imagine UW said that the different perspectives and fresh faces would make student efforts even more compelling. Matthew FitzGerald, an independent candidate, said that he would reach out to the Greek community by inciting the interest of the students in advocacy.

“If you want people to show an interest … you have to find something that ties them to that involvement,” FitzGerald said.

The candidates for director of programming focused on how they would encourage groups to collaborate on events. Sanya Dhermy of Imagine UW said that she brings a new perspective, and that she plans on looking into other options besides only arts and entertainment for collaboration. Robert Higa of Huskies United said that collaboration between student groups would make use of a small programming budget, while still providing high-quality programming, and that he would be a resource for groups looking for event space during the HUB closure.

Candidates for the director of diversity efforts received questions asking about how they would communicate what the Ethnic Cultural Center (ECC) is involved with or working on to other communities on campus. Freddy Mora of Huskies United said that he would work closely with the director of community relations and create events that unite all students on campus. Jonathan Winn of Imagine UW said that he would work with the eight ASUW commissions on programs, and that students would be able to see what the ECC is doing through those programs.

“You should be able to see through the residence halls and the Greek community how well the ECC is doing because of the programs,” Winn said.

Candidates for the position of community relations addressed a question about the lack of knowledge about the ASUW in the Greek community. Colton Schweitzer of Imagine UW, Josh Chau of Our Future and Desiree Hanssen of Huskies United all agreed that many students are not aware of what the ASUW does on campus.

“During elections, I see that there is a lack of information about ASUW,” Chau said. “I want to make sure that we have relationships with the IFC and Panhellenic Association — not just the leaders, but the representatives as well.”

All three candidates for the director of communications talked about how they planned to use social media to communicate with students. Juan Soto of Imagine UW said that information is spread mostly through the Internet, and both Michelle Nance of Our Future and Sabrina Squires of Huskies United said that they’d planned on producing monthly videos to inform students about what the ASUW is doing.

“I believe ASUW has a fundamental problem in how it communicates with students,” Nance said.

She said she felt that students don’t understand what the association does on campus or how to be involved.

Candidates for the director of university affairs talked about how students could better work with faculty and administration. Evan Smith of Huskies United spoke about relationships he’s already built, while Bryan Dosono of Imagine UW said that he felt there was a disconnect between faculty and students that needed to be fixed.

“We need to be working together to make sure that we’re going out with the same message,” Smith said about student and administration collaboration in higher-education advocacy.

Candidates will participate in another forum hosted by the Office of Minority Affairs and Diversity and the Student Activities Board next Monday. The filing deadline for candidates is Friday at 5 p.m. Voting for the elections begins online May 9 and ends May 11.

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