The Daily Wildcat endorses the following candidates for the Associated Students of the University of Arizona Administrative Vice Presidency and Executive Vice Presidency. The presidential endorsement will run Tuesday morning online along with live coverage of the election results on Wednesday. You can vote online at elections.asua.arizona.edu on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Administrative Vice President
It was a tough decision, but we are choosing to endorse Lorenzo Johnson for ASUA administrative vice president. Johnson has a great understanding of the AVP responsibilities and shows leadership potential. He’s a dedicated candidate that will see things through and adapt to whatever situation.
Johnson shows appreciation for the role the AVP plays in student lives and the office’s power to directly impact and improve the UA community through its oversight of the ASUA programs and services, which so many students benefit from.
He hopes to raise awareness about what ASUA does and the lack of diversity and inclusivity within ASUA through InformaCats.
Johnson demonstrates an understanding of what is attainable through the position with funding in mind. He shows passion for providing a platform for all voices and supporting students by tailoring each experience in regards to funding programs and services.
Editor’s Note: Opinions editor Scott Felix recused himself from the discussion and decision of this endorsement because of his and the candidate’s shared affiliation with Sigma Chi fraternity. Felix is an inactive member and Johnson is currently a pledge.
Executive Vice President
Emily Hastings is real. She understands what is realistically attainable if elected into this position and models her platforms accordingly, and furthermore has a good grasp of fiscal responsibility.
While advocating for UA clubs and organizations is a major part of the executive vice president job description, serving as a leader to the senate is equally as important.
Hastings is aware of the flaws currently plaguing the senate—a lack of transparency, a misunderstanding of responsibilities, a weak senate structure, etc. We believe she will prioritize fixing these issues if elected.
Hastings wants to better prepare the senators by strengthening and extending the training period they receive before taking office.
Her platform focuses on offering programs and educational modules that will better prepare club leaders to be resources to students dealing with mental health, sexual assault, discrimination and more.
She further hopes to make trainings like Safe Zone available to more individuals through universal campus platforms like D2L, making for a more inclusive campus climate.
Senate
We are choosing not to endorse any senators currently seeking office because, frankly, there is nothing to really endorse. This is an issue.
For the second year, following a doubling in the size of the senate and a move to college-specific representation, a wide swath of college-specific seats are uncontested.
The race itself remains largely uncompetitive—nine out of the 11 at-large senate candidates will get elected and all but four college-specific seats have only one candidate vying for office.
We challenge the winner of the executive vice presidency—whoever the candidate may be—to fix this.
The current structure of the senate is good on paper—an attempt to ensure that the needs of each individual and unique college be represented—but its execution has thus far been poor. Growing pains are a real thing, and a doubling in size certainly warrants a period of adaptation, but it is time for the EVP to push the senate past that.
Editorials are determined by the Daily Wildcat Opinions Board and are written by its members. They are Editor-in-chief Sam Gross, Managing Editor Chastity Laskey, Digital Managing Editor Courtney Talak, Arts Editor Jamie Verwys and Opinions Editor Scott Felix.
