This past Friday’s Associated Student Government meeting consisted of improving campus communication and learning about the school’s new Dream Center.
“The main goal this year would be to have more communications between students,” said President Allegra Kabukapua Kalombo.
The ASG was visited by students Tanja Jefferson and, for a second time, Rafael Carrillo.
Jefferson, the president of the video game and Dungeons & Dragons clubs, voiced her concerns regarding a recent email exchange involving herself and the ASG president.
In the email thread, Jefferson requested a meeting with Kalombo to address communication concerns between students and the ASG.
According to Jefferson, the ASG president refused to meet with her after Jefferson didn’t reply on time to Kalombo’s first offer to meet.
“I am the president and I’m not an interim anymore,” Kalombo’s final email reads.
“Which means I know what I put myself into. Talking about meeting students, I gave you the opportunity to meet and you weren’t available. So excuse me if I can be busy too.”
It goes on to say, “This is my last email to you and I won’t go over what we already discussed.”
Jefferson told The Channels she felt “unheard” and “silenced” upon receiving the email.
“I’m not going over the email in this meeting,” Kalombo said when Jefferson was done with her public comment. “Those emails were sent with respect. I will email you shortly after the meeting.”
Carrillo, the former Vice President of Internal Affairs of the ASG, signed on during public comment as well. He volunteered to be the official ASG representative for the College Planning Council and offered to run a COVID-19 awareness campaign on campus. He also volunteered to update the ASG’s website for the first time in about a year.
“Students still don’t know the [student officers] names,” Carrillo said about the lack of information on the ASG’s bio page.
Vice President of Operations and Finance ZhiNing Cui proposed ideas on how to improve communication. This included handing out flyers, utilizing social media, emailing students directly from officer’s personal pipeline addresses and posting office hours.
“Students should be able to easily schedule a meeting,” Cui said.
Kalombo agreed, saying she would share her office hours later this week.
Dean of Student Affairs Paloma Arnold and Interim Coordinator of Equity, Diversity, and Cultural Competency Roxane Byrne also visited the meeting to announce the opening of a Dream Center on campus.
The program will offer community resources such as financial support and free immigration legal help amongst AB540, undocumented and DACA students.
“This opening of a Dream Center has been years in the making,” Byrne said.
The ASG will reconvene next Friday, Sept. 17.
