The Associated Students of Eastern Washington University (ASEWU) is committed to serving the students of Eastern Washington University through acting as a resource for student activism, providing students with leadership opportunities, promoting diversity and inclusion, and being an informed, unified student voice. This was exemplified by Remington Steelman, ASEWU Executive Vice President.

Many students are running for positions within student government this year. Steelman is running for President, and those running for his current position are Elle Tschetter and Lucas Fyre. Randle Kinswa, MJ Gibbons, and Maxwell Watne are running for Vice President of Finance. Molly Kirkham is running for the Athletic Affairs and University Advancement council position. Another student, Wade Romine, is running for the Legislative Affairs council position. Krista Jazmine Herber is running for the Student Activities position on council. For the Student Services council position we have both Logan Hamilton and Elizabeth Humberstad in the running.

Steelman as Executive Vice President  is the direct supervisor of the council, and he is the chairman of the PUB board. He is running for President which is a role he has been interested in for some time now, that he was nervous to run for.

“I want to give back to the student body, using my 3 C’s plan! Connect: highlight student achievement and bring the student body together; Commit: to the student body and make sure the needs of the students are met; Cultivating: the goal is to create a culture where everyone feels supported and safe to be themselves fully”, says Steelman. He also mentions how important advocacy is in his plan, and wants to be a voice.

Some plans for his presidency include holding round tables and inviting students to come and discuss their needs in a safe environment. Steelman would like to increase awareness about the programs and departments here that help with health and safety needs. He says, “After 2 years of not being in person together, mental health looks completely different and I want to make sure the student body knows what resources they have available”. Finally he states that something very important to him is making the student body feel like a family.

Steelman emphasizes that student government is crucial to Eastern life and why the student body should make voting an important part of their time here. Steelman urges students to vote for people they connect with and make them excited about being on campus. He says, “Voting for the people we identify with can make you feel safe to be heard, and that’s what the stu gov needs to be seen as”. He expresses that the team at ASEWU wants to become more transparent about the inner workings of the government and allow students to state concerns.

Voting looks different every year but Steelman claims that the current plan seems to be that there will be 3 days of primary voting the second week back from spring break. Students will receive an email to their student inbox explaining the whole process. There will also be a few days of the candidates that move on from primaries to meet at each hall on campus to get to know students and campaign. The top 2 for each position will advance to general elections.

Steelman took the time to also explain how ASEWU is a great place to get involved and encourages every student to consider how they can help make the school a better place. There are committees that students can be a part of that help decide how finances get divided up, how events happen, how to improve diversity and inclusion, and other exciting work. If working in the office doesn’t sound like your cup of tea, there are events where students can interact with others and bring up student engagement. ASEWU offers opportunities for being involved in advocacy related events, and supporting students how they need.

Students are encouraged to involve themselves at EWU and to make decisions about their time here and future after college. A small group can only reflect so much of the whole student body, but if more students work to express our wants, needs, and concerns, the more we can come away from our time in college feeling fulfilled and content.