Year offered fulfilling experience for ASUA president

Dear students and members of the UA community:

As my term ends, I would like to thank you all for the opportunity to serve as student body president this past year. It has been a momentous year filled with both times of tragedy and triumph, but through it all, I have felt incredible pride in the students and community of the UA.

Despite challenging times and difficult circumstances, the people of this university continue to overcome adversity and prove why this is a special place.

As student body president, I heard many unique stories about the individuals that make up this institution. These stories inspired me in my work to advocate for students and what is now a life long passion for education. For I learned that as diverse as this student body is, there is a shared love for this university and the opportunity that higher education affords us all.

I am graduating this May and moving on to what is hopefully a bright future, but I will always treasure what has been a life-changing year as student body president of the UA. I leave knowing that I did my best to represent students, and I thank you all for the privilege of this experience.

Bear down Arizona.

— Emily Fritze, Associated Students of the University of Arizona President

TUSD ethnic studies proposal misunderstood

Your columnist, Elisa Meza, (“”Protests should inspire students”” April 29) perpetuates several misunderstandings concerning my recent proposal to change Tucson Unified School District’s ethnic studies curriculum.

She writes that the proposal would turn TUSD’s Mexican American Studies (MAS) courses into electives. That is true only for the MAS classes in the Social Studies core, not the MAS courses in the English core.

She writes that “”Out of all the ethnic studies courses offered by TUSD, MAS was the sole subject singled out,”” but the MAS courses are the only ethnic studies courses in TUSD’s Social Studies core.

She says that my proposal shows that I support House Bill 2281, despite my numerous and consistent statements that I opposed H.B. 2281. A comparison of the text of H.B. 2281 and my proposal shows that there is no connection between them except that they both refer to ethnic studies.

Finally, your writer ignores the centerpiece of my proposal, which is to incorporate multicultural curriculum throughout our Social Studies core, so that all of TUSD’s high school students will see it, instead of the approximately 5 percent who currently choose to take MAS courses.

— Mark Stegeman, President of the TUSD Governing Board