Candidates for the 2025-2026 Associated Students of the University of Arizona executive officers met for a series of debates on platforms and visions on March 19. 

The executive team at ASUA is composed of the administrative vice president, executive vice president and the student body president. 

Two candidates for each position were determined by the primary elections, which closed on Feb. 26. These final candidates met Wednesday to answer questions about their leadership roles and visions for what they want ASUA to look like in the next school year. 

General elections will open at 8 a.m. on March 25 and will close at 8 p.m. on March 26. 

Administrative vice president debate on visions and platforms 

The candidates for the AVP position are Joshua Jaiyeola and Katie Kelliher. Both candidates are a part of the current ASUA Senate, with Jaiyeola representing the College of Law and Kelliher serving as an at-large senator. During the Q&A session, they each described their personal backgrounds and how said backgrounds influence their visions for student government.

Kelliher explained she was born and raised in Sierra Vista, Arizona, always having a connection to the Tucson area and what it means to be a Wildcat. She emphasized how important the university is to her.

“Being able to advocate for students around me and be involved in not only my community, but my education, is a lot of the reason behind my passion,” Kelliher said in the opening statement of the forum.

Jaiyeola is a first-generation immigrant from Nigeria and spent 5 years living in the United Kingdom before moving to the Seattle, Washington area. He informed others of his background to actively connect with students who also have a variety of experiences and backgrounds. 

“Diversity creates a very colorful culture, it creates very beautiful things from very beautiful people,” Jaiyeola said. 

When asked about his leadership style, Jaiyeola said, “I try to bring joy to everything that I do.” 

Kelliher’s responses to questions largely focused around one theme: community. 

“I think that on our own, we can do very little, but we’re all better together. Everybody’s opinions, frustrations and perspectives are important,” Kelliher said. 

Kelliher detailed transparency as her most prominent role in raising awareness of programs and resources available to students. 

If elected, Kelliher plans to tap into all subsets of communities on campus, from Greek organizations to clubs to resource centers in order to spread the word of initiatives and raise the visibility of ASUA. 

“Students don’t know what is available to them and we need to be more involved in actively reaching out to constituents,” Kelliher said. 

Kelliher explained her goal is to foster a stronger Wildcat community through focusing on communication efforts which enhance the availability of resources. 

If elected, Kelliher stated that her role as AVP would be a way to bridge the gap between students, faculty and administrators.

Additionally, Kelliher expressed her mission to spread education of safety measures for individuals to protect themselves on campus, mentioning self-defense classes for female students. 

Jaiyeola, on the other hand, explained his view of the AVP role as a method to bring creative solutions to problems and implement diverse perspectives into resources. 

Jaiyeola said that currently, “there’s so many creative restrictions or so much fear that we’re stepping on someone’s toes.” 

Jaiyeola explained that while he understands and respects the rules and regulations that ASUA must follow, he also reasoned that the executive team needs to use their voice more often.

“I cannot always help with specific questions that my peers have, but I can find them resources that will help them,” Jaiyeola said. 

Jaiyeola added that ASUA can’t always wait for the university to give them the funds that they need and explained the option to look towards alumni networks and private organizations.  

Jaiyeola continued to place an emphasis on his value of diversity. 

“People don’t understand what it’s like to feel like an outcast because of your identity. People always like to look at statistics, but I hate putting people down into numbers rather than human beings,” Jaiyeola said. 

Additionally, Jaiyeola reasoned that ASUA must meet communities where they are at and ask them what they need assistance with. 

“Once we find a problem, we can work towards finding a solution,” Jaiyeola said. 

In terms of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion programs, Jaiyeola is passionate about protecting cultural centers and diversity initiatives. According to Jaiyeola, paying tuition or earning scholarships grants students the right to access programs designed to ensure their safety and amplify their voices. 

Additionally, part of Jaiyeola’s platform rests on the idea of what he referred to as a very “active campus.” He explained the need to implement additional educational resources on the prevention of STDs, alcohol poisoning and drug overdoses. 

“It all bubbles down to being kind and listening to each other,” Jaiyeola said in his closing statement. He acknowledged his respect for Kelliher and explained that both of them are passionate about the university and their fellow students. 

Executive vice president debate on leadership roles and initiatives

The candidates for the EVP position of the 2025-2026 ASUA are Damanitza Romo and Benjamin Huffman. Both of these candidates have extensive experience in ASUA through serving on the senate. 

Huffman currently represents the College of Education and serves as the Senate president, to which he was unanimously elected by fellow senators. Romo serves as an at-large student body senator.

Romo and Huffman share a general vision for increasing collaboration within ASUA. As part of the position involves overseeing the ASUA Senate, Huffman described how he would like to give senators the room to do what they want. 

Similarly, Romo expressed her desire to be accessible to senators to help with their initiatives along with asking for feedback on her leadership style if elected. She mentioned that she would like to encourage senators to take a more active role in projects led by executive officers. 

Both candidates shared similar views on administrative issues. 

“Sometimes it can be easy to just succumb to the decisions made by administration, but oftentimes they only know what they know from their experience, so we need to amplify the student experience,” Romo said. 

She expressed that if elected, she would commit to being a stern and unwavering voice for students. 

“We can’t have administration tailor our beliefs,” Romo said. 

Likewise, Huffman said if elected, he would have a “responsibility to students first and the university second.” 

Huffman described that in his current position as the College of Education senator, he can have a hard time finding a solution to problems within his college due to logistical issues. 

According to Huffman, when he is trying to find information, he is often passed around to numerous people, which can make him lose sight of his original goal. He proposed increased documentation between senators and their administrators in order to protect transparency. 

Huffman also mentioned that everyone in ASUA must be on the same page to enhance communication efforts. 

“We all want to solve the issues students are having, but we need to agree on the specific solutions we want to engage in,” Huffman said.  

The candidates then discussed specific projects they would like to engage in if elected. 

As a senator, Huffman is currently working on an initiative to increase the accessibility of graduation attire within his college and the university as a whole. The total cost of graduation attire is currently $60, not including stoles or cords. 

According to Huffman, this price is simply too high for a lot of students who deserve to celebrate their accomplishments. 

“That price tag could be the difference between sharing a really important moment with loved ones and not, and I don’t think we should have that as a barrier to students,” Huffman said. 

Through his initiative as senator, he has received funding from his college to have 10-15 gowns provided to first-generation students. This is a project that he would like to expand if elected as EVP. 

Huffman also said he would aim to implement the basic Employment Development, Growth and Engagement training to be a requirement for all incoming freshmen. EDGE is a program that, among other trainings, includes information on gun safety and general ways for students to protect themselves in case of an emergency.

Many campus employers mandate student employees to take these courses. Huffman explained giving EDGE as a resource to all students could aid as an additional safety measure. 

While Romo agreed safety is definitely a concern on campus, she didn’t necessarily agree with Huffman’s idea of mandating EDGE training for all students. 

“Sadly, the information given in EDGE is the same rhetoric we have heard our whole lives,” Romo said. She explained that she would like to focus on increasing campus safety through resources like cultural centers. 

According to Romo, if elected, she would like to make ASUA more accessible to clubs. Right now, there is an initial fee to become registered as an ASUA-recognized club on campus, which she explained a lot of growing clubs simply do not have the funds for. 

According to Romo, the initial fees can often hinder a club’s ability to be included in the semester club fair, which could isolate students. If elected, Romo would also like to expand in-person and virtual options for students to learn more about clubs. 

Romo ended her closing statement by saying that “Even if I don’t get elected, I will continue my fight because I know right from wrong.” 

Huffman urged the audience to “show up, vote and tell everyone else to vote.” 

Student body president debate on improvements and maintenance 

The current student body president, Adriana Grijalva, is rerunning for her position. She is opposed by Andrew Pongratz. Grijalva has extensive experience with ASUA. Aside from her current leadership position, she explained that she also served as the chief of staff for the previous SBP. 

Pongratz, while not having a lot of experience with ASUA, argued that the student government needs a fresh perspective. He also explained that it is his third time running for this position. Both Pongratz and Grijalva are Tucson locals, which adds an interesting dynamic to how both of them view the importance of the Wildcat community. 

Pongratz expressed that if elected, he would be dedicated to three main goals: professional development, campus safety and the maintenance of campus traditions. 

In terms of campus traditions, he highlighted the need to bring people together and feel a sense of community, whether that means bringing back previous events or starting new traditions. 

Pongratz mentioned he is very data-driven and would love to bring some statistics to the student government to learn more about what he calls the “stickiness factor.” He described this term as a way to look at what keeps people coming back to different resources and events.

Additionally, Pongratz emphasized the importance of meeting students where they are at to learn about their struggles. 

“Students are so busy with classes, extracurriculars and jobs, so we need to go to events, go to club meetings and learn what they need,” Pongratz said. 

He explained that storytelling is an important part of advocacy work and reasoned that ASUA must highlight the personal experiences of students. 

Overall, Pongratz argued that ASUA needs a new set of eyes that has seen the issues of the student body.

“I really enjoy getting to meet different people across campus and connect with them about their hopes, their concerns and where they see this campus going,” Pongratz said. 

Grijalva had a different perspective on what qualities are needed for this position. 

“I got to see what worked this year and what didn’t, so I am really excited to be running again because I see how important it is to be a voice for students, especially for communities that are not being represented,” Grijalva said. 

Throughout this term, Grijalva has had a significant relationship with campus safety initiatives. 

Grijalva explained how she was able to add 300 emergency blue light stations on campus so that students can have access to a responder if something were to occur. She emphasized her commitment to transparency and acknowledged that ASUA has made some missteps. 

In terms of her personal background, Grijalva is a first-generation Latina student from the south side of Tucson. She explained how she did not even think college would be an option for her, so she respects the fact that some students have to work hard for these opportunities. She detailed that her inspiration for this position came from her personal struggles and her connections with other students. 

When asked about specific projects, Grijalva discussed dissatisfaction on behalf of students with online orientation upon entering college. 

Grijalva detailed the importance of working on increasing measures for student adjustment to college and improving orientation methods. 

Grijalva explained that she would like to have more town hall meetings for students to voice their opinions. In terms of safety measures, Grijalva spoke in support of adding more security cameras to parking garages and continuing to work with Counseling & Psychological Services for mental health resources. 

While Grijalva explained that there is room for improvement, she also recognized some of the life-changing resources that ASUA has created, such as the Safe Ride program and the Basic Needs Center. 

“I’m really proud to be a Wildcat,” Grijalva said.

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