Editor’s note: ASG President Raquel Smith is a staff writer for The Channels. She did not contribute any reporting to this article.
The Associated Student Government (ASG) convened on Friday, April 25 and discussed a Board of Trustees policy and sustainability project.
One of the first and main topics introduced by Student Trustee Bruce Tan was the Board policy regarding the conduct of public comments at Board of Trustees meetings. This included guidelines for speakers and maintaining decorum. Tan presented a recording of an emotionally charged public comment from a recent Board of Trustees meeting, which he attended in person.
“When I was sitting in [on] the board to be 100% honest . . . I felt like I was attacked, I felt like I was responsible for the mess,” Tan said. “When we want to empower student voices, I feel like we should give proper guidance on how to have their voices feel effective as possible.”
All ASG members had a discussion about their thoughts as to what was presented to them.
ASG President Raquel Smith pointed out that in emotional situations it is important to stay focused on the issue rather than taking things personally.
“It’s really our responsibility, given that we are in a position of authority to navigate our responses to situations and control what steps we take,” Smith said.
The topic sparked much of a discussion that the ASG members wanted to continue talking about it for several more minutes beyond what was originally scheduled on the agenda. Therefore Commissioner of Marketing Hannah Jensen moved to extend this agenda item time by five minutes, seconded by Advocate Service and extend it another five minutes. Another key aspect discussed was the sustainability project.
Commissioner of Sustainability Noah Walls said that the Sustainability Committee met very recently to begin reworking certain processes and making major changes. A change is to emphasize a focus on giving project presentations to a committee or faculty members versus just ASG.
The working idea is ASG will be given shorter presentations by the students whose projects have already been approved by the committee and the students will be almost solely responsible for allocating a proper budget instead. There is some confusion being expressed among ASG members about how much feedback ASG can give and the extent to which ASG will have a say in project approval.
At the end of the meeting ASG Advisers Amy Collins and Melissa Menendez shared some motivating and encouraging words toward ASG members.
“All of you have been working so hard at everything,” Collins said. “It’s very inspiring and exhausting to watch you guys because you are so busy and having everyone at the table today is fantastic.”
Menendez congratulated ASG members who ran in the elections for the 2025-2026 school year.
“Congratulations to those who ran, who will continue and also it was really nice to have us all here together as a big family,” Menendez said.
The next ASG meeting will be Friday, May 2.
