The Associated Students of Madison (ASM) met virtually Wednesday night to determine the Student Council’s leadership for the coming school year and elected Representative Matthew Mitnick as its chair.
The meeting, ASM’s first in the online setting, began with a muddled, laughter-filled oath of office for newly elected representatives, but soon shifted to an open forum. Common talking points included statements concerning equity and inclusion, campus response to the pandemic, student right to assemble and protest and more. Many speakers also touched on the recent civil unrest as well as the looming pandemic and its direct effects on students and the Madison community.
After a lengthy forum, the council voted to appoint a number of students to committee, officer and board positions — appointments delayed by the campus shutdown in mid-March. Representative Matthew Mitnick was elected as Chair and Representative Aerin Leigh Lammers was elected as Vice Chair.
“This year, in ASM, I would like to continue working on promoting equity on campus, developing a more clear, accessible and inclusive process for student organizations to get grants and funding, [continue] to appoint more students to city and county committees, and of course, it’s an election year, so we should definitely promote civic engagement,” Mitnick said, describing his goals as Chair.
Another noteworthy addition to ASM’s leadership is first-year student Robyn George. George, now the Legislative Affairs Committee Chair, cited her extensive experience with both school and state governance, as well as involvement with her non-profit organization, Suburbs for Equality, where she currently serves as Founder and President as ample reasoning for seeking a leadership position during her first semester here at UW-Madison.
Katrina Morrison, a law school student and the 24th Session Chair of ASM, made note of the fact that “a freshman hasn’t run for Legislative Affairs Chair before because freshmen haven’t had the opportunity to do so. ”
The elections have traditionally occurred in the spring, but were pushed to this fall due to the cancellation of classes this past semester. As a result, freshman and first year students have not had the opportunity to run for and hold leadership positions in ASM until now.
With the leadership positions filled, ASM is now able to turn its attention towards the university’s response to the coronavirus and other issues facing the campus community.
Sophia Vento is a former editor-in-chief of The Daily Cardinal. She previously served as the college news editor. She has covered breaking, campus, city, state and sports, and written in-depth stories about health, culture and education. She previously interned with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Any newsroom would be lucky to have Sophia on staff. Follow her on Twitter at @sophiasvento.
