‘24-’25 AUSA Cabinet Prepare for Leadership

This article builds off of our AUSA Election Results piece to give a thorough view of our new AUSA officers and there plans for next year. You can find the link to the main article here.

This year’s election system produced eighteen candidates across the seven positions. The election winners are listed below, along with three interview questions and their answers. 

• Why did you decide to run for this position specifically?

• What specific plans do you have for the university and the student body?

• In light of some recent controversial decisions by President Taylor and recent administrations, how do you plan to make the voices of the students you represent known to the administration?

President – Jakob Kwon (senior, accounting and business finance)

1. “I ran for the position because I felt that I would be able to connect to people more. I am all about connections, and this position will give me a broader spectrum to meet. This also gives me the opportunity to use my skills I have learned in leadership, as well as to develop other skills that may need to be developed.”
2. “My specific plans are to keep establishing a concrete framework for the future. Also, one of the things I would like to establish is open communication. As stated in my campaign, my goal is to make sure that people can speak to us, one on one in the AUSA office. Secondly, I want to try to unify parts on campus using different entities. I want to make sure that student leaders have a seat at the table so they can contribute to what needs to be done and how, as a collective, to come to a solution.”
3. “Firstly, I would like to establish communication and ask what students feel; I want to make sure that they have ideas, or simply put, why they do not like the administration’s actions. I cannot promise that I can fix everything, but I will work hard, as well as the other AUSA officers. This includes emails, meetings, perhaps bringing this to the board, but I am unsure. I still have to be fully trained by the current [AUSA] president, but I will try. I will actively be the student’s voice. 

Executive Vice President – Alyssa Caruthers (sophomore, political science and English writing)

1. “It wasn’t in my head to run for this position, but with people’s encouragement and the voice of God in my head, I ended up running. It’s also a good way to really help the campus and make use of my skills.”
2. “A big part of my campaign was that I wanted to make the Senate more active on campus. I feel like nobody really knows what the Senate is and what it does. I want to make it more clear to the student body and have them work more with the students.”
3. “I plan on asking a whole lot of questions. I feel like AUSA officers are the first people to get the information, so I plan to really question the things they [the administration] are putting forth. They need to have someone disagreeing with them to understand what the student body’s opinion would be, too. I’m supposed to be representing the student body’s opinion so I feel that with my own opinions and questioning along with what I hear from other students, I’ll be able to put forth all the opinions on what’s going on and what [policies] will be put into place.”

Vice President of Social Affairs – Samantha Flores (sophomore, music education)

1. “I always had so much fun going to the events planned by AUSA, and I decided that I would love to be a part of creating the events and planning them so that everyone can have a good time.” 
2. “I want to bring out the school's diversity with my plans next year. I also want to do more outreach events other than Change Day and Service Sabbath. Also, I’m a music major, so of course, we will see a lot more music-based events. My main goal for next year is to make sure everyone on campus has something that they are interested in doing so that everyone feels included.”
3. “I think it would be best to create an outlet where the students can voice their opinions because lately, the one place where people talk about their opinions is on social media, and it hasn’t been very effective. If we have one designated place for them to tell us their opinions, we can access them, talk about them during meetings, and bring them up to administration.”

Vice President of Interior – Pétala Santos (senior, digital communications and global science)

1. “I believe that in this position, I will be able to practice a more legal and political side that I loved learning from political science. Another reason was to expand my horizons with leadership and get out of my comfort zone.”
2. “As mentioned, I plan to advocate for better mental health support and student awareness. Create better policies to adequately face issues concerning mental health, to see cases as real people and not just numbers. My other goal is to create a better community for international students, show ways to accomplish their goals, and establish a network to support and provide better information on navigating Andrews University in any aspect.”
3. “Good communication is the best way to establish a strong relationship. I will create a more personal connection with students, hear their voices, concerns, and stories, and bring them to the administration. I will be a direct link between students and administration.”

Vice President of Religion – Angelica Torres (freshman, theology)

1. “I decided to run for AUSA Religious VP because I saw an opportunity to grow and improve the spirituality [on] campus. I was encouraged to run by some other student leaders and felt called to [take] my leadership to the next level. I am very [passionate] about student involvement and their experience with God, so I wanted to play a part in fostering a culture of faith on campus.”
2. “I would love for students to have more say in the campus spirituality they want to see. Doing this would come from a type of student forum to gauge where the students are at and things they want implemented. 
3. “In light of changes in administration and the decisions that have been made, I will be sure to not ignore the concerns of the students and lead with a Christ-like manner.”

Vice President of Public Relations – Katie Davis (junior, social work)

1. “I decided to run for VP for PR because I want to make Andrews a better place, and I have experience with PR from other positions in clubs. While [studying abroad] in Spain, I have been able to adapt, grow, and apply new knowledge and skills to the PR page here. I also love talking, getting to know people, and making connections, and I think that is a big part of this position. I think it’s such an important thing to capture the AUSA events because everything is captured and posted on social media. We’re going to look back in several years and reminisce about the moments we had in college, and I want students to have those memories saved for later.”
2. “Some ideas that I have for Andrews include aiding more events that AUSA will sponsor, giving more opportunities, and creating more spaces for the student body to be heard and to create more memories for the students. Some events that I would like to incorporate next year are Field Day, local farmers' market, Capture the Flag, Scavenger Hunts, and more movie nights.”
3. “There tends to be no transparency between both the students and administration, and because of this, each party is making decisions based on the ‘knowledge’ or ‘reality’ of what is happening. As a new AUSA officer, I would like more transparency to be seen by both parties, students and administration, so that we can trust, grow, and learn from each other.”

Anna Williams, the executive secretary-elect, was sought for comment but declined. The rest of the 2024-25 Cabinet had more to share about their personal experiences and insights into who they are as leaders, which can be found here. With the updates and changes made by Manrique’s administration, along with the optimism and planning of the current officers, it is evident that the future leadership team is putting effort into preparing to serve AU.