99th Associated Student Government
2020-20212020-2021
100+ completed projects, events, and initiatives
2 SEC Awards
Despite the challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, the 99th Associated Student Government worked to not just maintain, but expand the effectiveness of the collective student voice. The organization completed over 100 events, initiatives, and programs, membership programs saw higher rates of involvement, and more Senators authored legislation than in years prior.
Below is a brief, non-comprehensive summary with a few of our highlights from this year.
Forward As One
President Julia Nall
Vice President Ben Cameron
Treasurer Jissel Esparza
Secretary Emma Kate Dillon
Chair of Senate Caleb Parker
Chief Justice Adam Hagler
Chief of Staff William Motazedi
Membership Development Coordinator Lexi Robertson
Highlight Reel
1. First on-campus polling site in University history
After over a decade of advocacy, we successfully secured Bud Walton Arena as an on-campus early voting location. 2,691 people voted in a three-day period, with higher turnout than the Courthouse.
2. Alcohol Amnesty
In addition to advocating for statewide alcohol amnesty policy changes via RAG, we proposed amendments to the campus policy that are anticipated to be enacted in the 2021-2022 academic year.
3. Multilingual resources
Treasurer Jissel Esparza worked to translate the OFA Standing Rules into Mandarin Chinese, Arabic, and Spanish to make funding more accessible after seeing international students struggle with the language in the Standing Rules.
4. Full rebranding
Secretary Emma Kate Dillon and her team worked to update the ASG logo, which led to a website re-design and office overhaul to bring us more up-to-date. An undergraduate was paid to design the logo, further representation of ASG’s mission as a student-led, student-oriented organization.
5. Academic advocacy
Senate and the Executive Team worked all year to continually and successfully advocate for policies promoting academic equity, including pass/no credit grading due to COVID, an extended drop deadline, and American Sign Language courses. Additionally, President Julia Nall worked on successful efforts led by Native American Student Association students and the WLLC department to get Cherokee Language resources on campus.
6. Most FLF applicants to date
Despite no in-person orientations and a heavily virtual fall semester, Membership Development Coordinator Lexi Robertson, FLF Coordinator Michael Fuhrman, and Director of Recruitment Elijah Conley secured more FLF applications than ever before. This was also the first year of the MDC position.
7. Increased Senate participation
In addition to adding accountability measures, Senate was more productive than recent years with higher rates of legislation passed and more Senators sponsoring legislation.
Awards
Outstanding AMP Member – Cherish Iroabuchi
Outstanding FLF Member – Ben Walworth
Outstanding Cabinet Member – Avery Hasten
Outstanding Senator – Caleb Swears
Outstanding Justice – Fern Alcantara
Outstanding OFA Board Member – Braden Byrum
Outstanding RAG Member – Zane Colvin
Supporting Free Resources
ASG began offering free Headspace subscriptions for students to support mental health and mindfulness.
Additionally, thanks to the work of the 98th Associated Student Government, we were able to disperse free New York Times subscriptions to anybody with a UARK email.
With love,
The 99th Associated Student Government