Aspen Cates-Doglio and Sophia Maynard have hope for the future, specifically hope that students will get more involved on campus. Lobby Day, an opportunity for students, faculty and staff to travel to the Washington State Capitol in Olympia and meet with the state legislators, is coming up, taking place from Feb. 1-2.
Cates-Doglio and Maynard’s respective roles as president and vice president for governmental affairs on Western Washington University’s Associated Students executive board are to represent students and allocate budgets, but they are concerned that students don’t know anything about them. According to Cates-Doglio, only 7.8% of students voted in the last AS elections.
Laurel Utzinger, a third-year Western student majoring in biology, confirms their concern. She only knows that she receives weekly emails with updates about the student government. However, she feels like the student government is not efficient in how they recruit students.
“What I feel would work is the big QR codes that people walk around with,” Utzinger said. “It’s easy to scan. I know they have posters but the QR codes are too small and people don’t read them.”
The barrier may also be related to the field of study that the AS often works in. Both Cates-Doglio and Maynard are political science majors, and they believe that may be affecting students’ incentive to get involved.
“I think that ASWWU has an image of being political science-related, because we partner with the department frequently,” Maynard said. “It kind of puts up this mental barrier to others.”
It’s a shame, they say, because it's easy to get involved. Students can sit in on one of their committee meetings, ask questions during office hours in the Viking Union, apply for one of the paid openings or even volunteer with the civic action program, supporting events such as the Voter Hub.
“The opportunities ASWWU provides in terms of professional development are vital to every major,” Maynard said. “Learning to lead, work with others and get involved civically necessitates a variety of study areas and backgrounds.”
Kate Destler, a political science associate professor at Western, added that the issues political science students advocate for don’t represent every issue, or even every student. Last fall, Professor Destler invited local high school students in collaboration with the student government.
“What the high schoolers were impressed and surprised by,” Destler said, “was that individuals in the student government make consequential decisions. They have a seat at the table when it comes to budgetary decisions or student life policies.”
Cates-Doglio works with Western’s Board of Trustees, and Maynard is in charge of organizing students to lobby the state legislature throughout January. The students’ job, however, is to make their voices heard about the needs, opportunities and strengths of the Western student body.
“It ensures that state legislators will prioritize higher education when making choices about what they can fund and what they can’t,” said Destler.
Students curious about getting involved can follow this year's Lobby Day and secure a spot for next year. In the meantime, executive board meetings are held every Thursday from 4-5:30 p.m. in VU 567, and students are encouraged to attend.
Héloïse Taisne (she/her) is an exchange student from France doing her senior year at WWU and studying English Literature. Outside of writing, Héloïse enjoys meeting new people, reading and drinking coffee. You can reach her at taisneh@wwu.edu.
