Abebaye Asrat Bekele | Staff Writer
Three newly elected ASWU executive officers will serve the Whitworth community next year.
President-elect Jeff DeBray wants to make ASWU more accessible to students and also encourage his team to be more present on campus, he said.
“I really saw the role of the president as a role of empowering students and that is my primary vision and goal for next year,” DeBray said.
Holding some ASWU meetings in the MPR might help students engage more, DeBray said.
Executive vice president-elect Dylan Reyes has a vision of bridging the gap between minority groups on campus and ASWU.
“I want ASWU to be an entity that is known as being welcoming,” Reyes said.
This effort to include more students of diverse background should be a team effort and not only fall on one person, Reyes said.
“I really want to engage more students into the conversation in ASWU,” Reyes said. “I want to include different voices into the conversation we are having higher up because students have a lot of power and I don’t think a lot of the time they realize how much power and influence they have.”
The senators all have their own experiences and strengths that are going to be invaluable to ASWU next year, and recognizing and honoring those experiences is the goal for next year, Reyes said.
Financial vice president-elect Shaun Fisher wants to solidify ASWU as being the student voice and wants to make sure every student is heard.
“I want to be able to hear from just about every single student just to make sure we can give the student body what they want and desire,” Fisher said.
The president, executive vice president and financial vice president have been meeting with each other and discussing their ideas, plans and the tone they want to set for next year, DeBray said.
“Also I am starting to develop those relationships with administration because a huge part of the president’s role is to be the direct voice of students to administration so meetings, meetings, meetings and I can’t say that enough,” DeBray said.
DeBray is preparing for his upcoming position by discussing and working with the current ASWU president Breanna Lyons, he said.
“I have a meeting set up with [President Beck Taylor] before the end of the year so I am looking forward to talking with him about his experience and especially everything that’sgone on in the past year,” DeBray said.
Reyes is preparing for the role with prayer and with the support of family, friends and faculty, he said.
Reyes used the skills that he learned as a resident assistant in preparation for this job, he said.
“I am also making sure that this summer is a summer of rest and being able to prepare myself mentally for the role,” Reyes said.
Reyes also said that he is preparing for the role by reading leadership books.
“Getting practical wisdom from people like Bill Robinson, former president of Whitworth, and talking with leaders like Taylor and getting influenced by them and just recognizing too that I as a leader also have my own individual strength that I am going to be bringing to ASWU next year and honoring that,” Reyes said.
Fisher has decreased the amount of credit hours he is taking next semester and choir practice hours so that he can make the FVP position his priority.
“I am working a lot with Jeff, who is the current financial vice president getting a lot of tips from him,” Fisher said.
The the new team of executive leaders will be leading the last ASWU meeting for this academic year, Reyes said.
Contact Abebaye Asrat Bekele at abekele20@my.whitworth.edu