Attending the University of Wisconsin-Madison comes with many new opportunities for students, ranging from academic endeavors to social discoveries. But one privilege incoming students may not be aware of is the power they possess to enact change on a university and system level.
The Associated Students of Madison, UW-Madison’s governing student association, caters to just that–ensuring that student advocacy reaches fruition.
“We’re not just a bunch of kids that [the] administration and the Legislature do not have to listen to,” said UW-Madison junior and newly appointed ASM Chair Genevieve Carter. “I think it’s our responsibility as students to advocate for ourselves and [make] sure that the issues that we’re working on impact students’ lives.”
Since its creation in the 1990s, ASM has served as the student component in the university’s shared governance structure. The body weighs in on both campus and UW System issues, working alongside university administration and state legislators.
Carter said one of the association’s goals for this upcoming year is to continue establishing ASM as a “welcoming and inclusive space” where students can fight for issues they feel passionately about.
Because the body is representative of all UW-Madison students, Carter said it is important to have as much engagement as possible to ensure fellow decision-makers are hearing from the more than 40,000 students who make up the university.
“The state of Wisconsin is really unique in the sense that state statutes give students a lot of power and a lot of ability to dictate what they want to see happen in their educational experience,” Carter said. “This gives us a huge amount of leverage when it comes to decisions about our education.”
Carter said the doors of the ASM office are always open–literally–to facilitate the concerns and desires of students. She added that students are the driving force behind change on campus.
“You have the power to make change,” Carter said. “You have the power to impact not only students at the university right now but students for years and years to come.”
