Thursday, March 28, 2024

ASMSU student leaders reflect on 50 years of service

September 27, 2015
<p>Public policy senior Domonique Clemons, president of the associated students, addresses the policy committee at the ASMSU meeting on Sept. 24, 2015 in the Student Affairs and Services building. He said that he hopes to use the skills gained during his time at ASMSU to work in local or state government in Michigan.</p>

Public policy senior Domonique Clemons, president of the associated students, addresses the policy committee at the ASMSU meeting on Sept. 24, 2015 in the Student Affairs and Services building. He said that he hopes to use the skills gained during his time at ASMSU to work in local or state government in Michigan.

Photo by Catherine Ferland | The State News

Associated Students of Michigan State University, or ASMSU, has been serving MSU’s undergraduate student body for 50 years.

"This is a huge milestone."

This is a huge milestone,” said Clemons, the ASMSU President. “It really does speak to how much we’ve done in the last 50 years that we’ve been able to successfully stay the legitimate student government.”

Despite the purported success of the student government, Clemons believes ASMSU still has room to grow. He said ASMSU’s recent implication of the Internal Review Committee helps promote essential change where it’s needed.

“Within our 50th year, we’re looking at this internal review and really looking what overhauls are needed,” he said.

The past and present efforts of ASMSU have continued to bring forth new interested general assembly members into the mix each academic year.

In past years, ASMSU has had some miscommunications resulting in high costs for the group. WTF (What to Fix) MSU campaign was marketed on MSU sidewalks, but the paint used to advertise was permanent.


I know they do a lot of great things so I want to be a part of it for sure,” Lyman Briggs Representative and freshman Rachel Jansen said.

Clemons said nearly all of the seats in the General Assembly are filled, which has not always been the case over the years. He said in some cases the GA had as little as 10 members.

In June, ASMSU’s elections yielded 3.3 percent voter turn out and it unfortunately was not out of the norm for ASMSU.

“A full assembly is 55 (representatives) as long as I’ve been here we’ve not seen a full assembly and this is honestly the most number of students on our assembly that I’ve seen in my time here,” Clemons said. The GA recently came to 43 representatives.

Full student engagement and participation is ASMSU’s goal and up to this point essential for each group to be acknowledged on the GA.

“I think it’s great that ASMSU has been around as long as it has,” Council of Students with Disabilities Representative Julia Christensen said.

Christensen said student engagement aids groups with lower representation by giving them a voice.

“It speaks to the fact that MSU students have always been active in this way,” she said.

Clemons said it’s important for ASMSU to notice the significant changes that come as a school ages.

“Some of the structures that were created 50 years ago don’t really reflect what the student of 2015 looks like,” Clemons said.

From providing free iClickers for rent at the beginning of the academic semester to having legal services at the disposal of students who run into trouble with the law, ASMSU was created to serve students and that remains their ultimate goal.

Vice President for Governmental Affairs Bryn Williams said he makes it his responsibility to hear student concerns and engage them into public policy on local, state levels.

"For my perspective the biggest part of my job really is the advocacy portion."

“For my perspective the biggest part of my job really is the advocacy portion,” Williams said.

ASMSU advocates national campaigns, such as It’s On US and mental health awareness, which directly affect students on campus.

“A lot of students across the board, and this is no fault of their own, are incredibly busy and concerned with the intricacy of their daily life without really thinking about what might be happening in the government that is affecting how I live my life in college,” Williams said.

Williams said both his and ASMSU’s role is to make it easy on the students by going the extra mile to do the research and help them reach an end result on issues that affect them.

ASMSU has struggled to fulfill promises on certain items on their agenda such as a planned mental health mural and a student concert.

MSU’s diverse community can leave certain voices out of the loop, but ASMSU attempts to incorporate them.

“You see a lot of people everyday who you probably have no idea have some sort of disability,” Christensen said.

Christensen said having students from all walks of campus is essential to the betterment of the student body.

“And that’s why I think it’s really important that we get representation on ASMSU,” she said.

ASMSU is large conglomerate of student departments including class councils, the GA, staffing and the Student Allocations Board.

“There’s a lot of things to get involved with within ASMSU and I’m just happy I got to be a part of it,” said Vice President for Internal Administration Jason Porter.

According to Porter, student involvement fuels the work getting done at ASMSU.

“Any student can write a bill,” he said. “They can find their representatives and if they have an issue or want to see something changed they can go to talk to their representative.”

Porter said the near 50,000 students, around 38,000 being undergraduate, on campus can have a voice, advocating any issues they see fit.

Sam Singh (D) now sits on the Michigan House of Representatives as the House Democratic Floor Leader, but in the early 1990s he was just another college student who wanted to help out his peers.

“Engage in any level of whether it be the university administration, the City of East Lansing or state politics,” Singh said. “I think often times that student voice is lacking in a lot of decision making.”

Singh served as ASMSU’s Chief of Staff and got his start in student government as President of Hubbard Hall.

Singh said working with ASMSU prepared him for his future endeavors on the East Lansing City Council and eventually the Michigan House of Representatives.

“I look back on it fondly,” Singh said.

Singh said he also helped in the starting up of the alternative Spring Break program.

“It helped me get more interested in the work that I wanted to do after college,” he said.

After serving three terms in the Michigan House of Representative, Barbara Byrum (D) now holds the position of County Clerk for Ingham County. She was appointed in 2013.

Byrum, an MSU alumna, became a part of ASMSU during her time as an undergraduate student by helping out in Student Legal Services.

“I was fortunate enough to assist with students who found themselves in court,” Byrum said.

She served as Director of Student Legal Services during her time with ASMSU. Byrum said her time at ASMSU helped her choose her battles and understand how to get two opposing forces to find compromise.

“I loved my time as a Spartan, which is why I have never left,” Byrum said.

Byrum said students should take advantage of all the services ASMSU offers while they are at school.

“I may live a few miles off campus, but I am still a Spartan and that has not changed,” she said.

Mayor Nathan Triplett spent a considerable amount of his time with ASMSU while attending MSU nearly 10 years ago.

Triplett also serves on the East Lansing City Council — he is up for re-election this fall.

Triplett graduated from James Madison College in 2006 and from the MSU College of Law in 2012.

Triplett sat on the East Lansing City Council as a student during his time at MSU.

As an MSU and ASMSU alumnus, Triplett has partnered ASMSU and East Lansing. The two have worked toward advocating on issues like mental health awareness.

Discussion

Share and discuss “ASMSU student leaders reflect on 50 years of service ” on social media.