Sven Karabegovic (center) is running for ASUU president alongside Alicia Baker (left) and Abukar Hassan (right). (Courtesy the Karabegovic Ticket)
ASUU Elections: The Karabegovic Ticket
On the Karabegovic ticket are Sven Karabegovic as the presidential candidate, Alicia Baker as vice president of student relations candidate and Abukar Hassan as VP of university relations candidate.
Karabegovic, who is studying political science and international studies, is passionate about creating a safe, welcoming and inclusive learning environment for all students at the U. If he became the president of ASUU, he said he would focus on building stronger communities while empowering student voices.
“With ASUU, I want to lay the groundwork for genuinely listening to the needs of the student body, especially those whose voices have historically been ignored in higher education,” Karabegovic said in an email interview.
Karabegovic’s campaign revolves around amplifying student voices and allowing them to thrive while also eliminating barriers for students to succeed. Alicia Baker, a junior studying quantitative analysis of markets & organizations, wants to accomplish this by getting students involved outside of their organizations on campus.
“We’d like to extend the reach of these student leaders beyond just involvement in their organizations,” Baker said in an email interview. “We want to give these student leaders a seat at the table to be able to speak to the administration about what they need.”
The primary issues on the Karabegovic ticket are campus safety and building communities for those who feel like they don’t fit, such as international students, first-generation students and others. To find solutions to these issues and others, the ticket will strive to “actively listen” to the concerns of students and take action.
“Unless we honestly listen through the concerns of students, making effective change will be impossible,” the Karabegovic ticket said. “In terms of creating a solution, we value a collaborative effort … through listening and communication, we can work together to create solutions representative of all students.”
Waste and sustainability is another big issue for them, and they believe with the amount of waste being produced by the U, that there should be more efforts to prioritize sustainability.
“From educating students about their potential impacts to investing more in recycling and renewable energy, we believe the U should set the standard for sustainable higher education in Utah,” the Karabegovic ticket said.