News

ASUA election results are in: Meet your new student body government

Randall Eck and Priya Jandu

March 25, 2019

Dani Cropper

ASUA candidates Bennett Adamson, Sydney Hess and Kate Rosenstengel stand together after the Executive Q&A on Thursday, March 21 in the SUMC. The three students are the only candidates running for ASUA’s executive positions for the 2019-2020 school year.

ASUA’s Executive Elects

Sydney Hess, Bennett Adamson and Kate Rosenstengel were all elected to their respective executive office positions in the Associated Students of the University of Arizona’s election held Monday, March 25, and Tuesday, March 26. Hess, Adamson and Rosenstengel were all running unopposed.

Sydney Hess: Student Body President

Hess was elected as student body president, receiving 1,337 votes total. She is a junior studying philosophy, politics, economics and law.

Hess has previously served as president of her Freshman Class Council, and she then served as a student body senator her sophomore year. She’s currently serving as Kate Rosenstengel’s chief of staff.

Hess will work with policy, elections and the Wildcat Events Board as student body president. Her focus into the next year will be student advocacy, community and civic engagement and mental health awareness.

“I think it’s really important that we host town halls in cultural centers throughout the year to ensure that we are hearing from students,” she said at an ASUA cultural forum. The goal of the town halls is to help students across campus feel they have a seat at the table.

In order to increase community and civic engagement, Hess wants to create an advocate position within ASUA. This position would act as a liaison between ASUA and local government.

“I want to work in city government one day, so I think it’s really important to build those relationships outside ASUA,” Hess said at the forum.

Hess also wants to focus on mental health awareness around campus.

“I think it’s really important … UA is a safe place where we’re addressing these issues,” Hess said at the forum.

Bennett Adamson: Executive Vice President

Adamson was elected executive vice president. He received 1,364 votes total and is a junior also majoring in PPEL.

Adamson is currently the senator for the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences and is on the Undergraduate Council, as well as the Student Advisory Fee Board.

As executive vice president, Adamson will oversee the senate and clubs and organizations on campus.

His goal as EVP is to streamline the club-registration process and make it easier for them to get funding from ASUA. Another goal is to encourage engagement among students.

He also said he wants the senate to complete a significant project, referencing past ASUA projects like SafeRide and the farmer’s market on the UA Mall. Adamson said senate projects should be a consistent effort.

“I feel like sometimes senators get lost with what they should be doing or how they should be affecting change in their colleges or campus-wide,” Adamson said. “I really want to see the EVP take a more tangible role in guiding the senate.”

Kate Rosenstengel: Administrative Vice President

Rosenstengel was re-elected to be administrative vice president. She received 1,379 votes and is a junior currently double majoring in PPEL and global studies.

Rosenstengel was previously a member of Freshman Class Council and a student body senator with Hess before being re-elected as AVP this year. As AVP, Rosenstengel works with the 12 programs and services in ASUA.

“I help hire all of the directors and help them achieve their goals for their program,” Rosenstengel said at the ASUA cultural forum. “I make sure that all the programs are growing, that we’re staying on track and that we’re going where we want to go in the future.”

Her goals for the next year are to continue what she started in her first year as AVP and continue advocating for “I Will” Week, a program that raises awareness about sexual assault on campus. Rosenstengel wants to integrate the programs and services into the club fair. She said she tried to spread awareness about them this year, but it was not as successful as she hoped.

Rosenstengel also wants to make sure “I Will” Week has a place in ASUA, with a set budget and someone dedicated solely to “I Will” Week. Her ultimate goal is to make “I Will” a permanent ASUA program to expand the initiative.

ASUA’s New Student Body Senators

The Associated Students of the University of Arizona’s senate election results are in. While many of ASUA’s senate and executive races went uncontested, UA students did select ASUA’s three new at-large senators from a pool of five candidates.

Ana Mendoza claimed the most votes in the election, winning 802 votes.

Rocque Perez and Rodrigo Robles will follow Mendoza to the ASUA Senate next year with 753 votes and 670 votes, respectively.

Skyler Kopit and Mark Jennings are two of only three ASUA candidates who will not serve in student government next year.

Voter turnout in the at-large senator race was approximately 4 percent of UA’s undergraduate student body.

Learn more about ASUA’s three new at-large senators and their campaign promises below:

Rocque Perez

Perez, who currently serves as an at-large senator in ASUA, will be the only student representative returning to the senate next year.

Perez, a political science sophomore, focused his campaign for re-election on increasing civic engagement, student engagement and equity on campus — positions that appear to have resonated with student voters and among his fellow candidates.

Talking to a group of students at a forum for ASUA Senate candidates on March 20, Perez laid out a plan to broaden ASUA outreach on campus.

“I think that there needs to be some kind of legislation within ASUA to establish requirements for ASUA senators to reach out to and build relationships with cultural centers on campus,” Perez said at the forum.

Throughout his re-election bid, Perez highlighted his work to raise the concerns of marginalized students, like DACA recipients, with UA administration and with census campaigners on campus, work he plans to continue next year.

Ana Mendoza

Mendoza, a political science student, campaigned on a platform of increasing diversity and inclusion on campus, leveraging her unique background as a transfer student.

As an incoming senator, Mendoza has promised to fight to increase ASUA support of UA’s cultural centers, creating programs that would help students navigate graduate school applications, exams and scholarship opportunities.

At the same senate candidate forum, Mendoza called for ASUA to expand outreach to transfer students on campus and be a better voice for marginalized students.

“I want our cultural centers to provide training to ASUA and for ASUA to show constant support for our marginalized students on campus especially for those in the DACA community,” Mendoza said at the forum.

During her campaign, Mendoza proposed improving UA’s relationship with local community colleges and for a more transparent and inclusive ASUA relationship with UA’s administration — one which gives more students a seat at the table.

Rodrigo Robles

A member of KAMP Student Radio and a pre-business student, Robles plans to increase ASUA’s engagement with student clubs on campus as well as improve campus sustainability and safety as a newly elected senator next year.

During the campaign, Robles was the only candidate to not provide a full list of campaign promises to UA students through ASUA’s election website.

Nevertheless, students had a chance to hear Robles outline his positions at ASUA’s Senate candidate forum on March 20 before electing him.

During the forum, Robles proposed banning, or at the very least providing an alternative for, plastic straws at UA’s Student Union Memorial Center. Robles also highlighted his outgoing personality and ability to work on a team.

“I want to be active on campus. I like to interact with people; building connections is so important,” Robles said at the forum.

College-Specific Senators

College of Architecture, Planning and Landscape Architecture: No candidate ran

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences: Paige Hargis

College of Education: Joseph Sturm

College of Engineering: Gage Driscoll

College of Fine Arts: Julie Vivaldo

College of Humanities: Grace Sluga

College of Letters, Arts and Sciences: Adora Harvey

College of Medicine: Gomez Ambriz

College of Nursing: Regina Dela Cruz

College of Science: Angel Hernandez