Muskan Walia (center) is running for ASUU president alongside Ravi Kaur (left) and Yovanni Valdez (right). (Courtesy the Valdez | Kaur | Walia Ticket)
ASUU Elections: The Valdez | Kaur | Walia Ticket
Muskan Walia is running for ASUU president with Yovanni Valdez running as vice president of student relations and Ravi Kaur as the VP of university relations.
Walia is majoring in mathematics and philosophy, Valdez is studying marketing and strategic communications and Kaur is majoring in political science.
Each student is heavily involved in different on-campus organizations. Valdez is currently an associate instructor for the first-generation scholar’s program and associate director for the first-year counsel in ASUU. He also serves as a resident advisor.
With their other campus involvements ending at the conclusion of the semester, the candidates are looking forward to the future.
Walia said all three of them have been student leaders in ASUU and all started in the first-year council.
“The big thing that we want to look at is budget or funding transparency and efficiency,” Walia said. “We want to enhance the decision-making processes and dynamics amongst ASUU leadership to ensure that the decisions being represented are representative of the entire student body and aren’t being made by one person. We also want to facilitate a lot of belonging and inclusivity, which we’re not seeing a lot of.”
Part of the reason they are motivated to make changes on campus and in ASUU is due to their experiences as first-generation students.
Both Kaur and Walia are Punjabi Americans, while Valdez is Mexican-American. They want to open doors and “pull out chairs” in rooms across campus for any student. The official slogan is “Making S.P.A.C.E. For You.”
The acronym SPACE correlates with the ticket’s mission of being more inclusive to students all over campus. It stands for “social engagement, progress safety, amplify current initiatives, create streamlined ASUU processes and equitable learning.”
Walia said they have all worked collaboratively with the current VanderToolen Administration in their current ASUU roles and are “excited to expand on their efforts and utilize our distinct backgrounds and experiences to reimagine current infrastructure and co-create policies, initiatives, and programs across campus by bringing folding chairs to every room in which we are invited.”