Mustang News
John Washington is a journalism senior and opinion columnist for Mustang News. The opinions expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of Mustang Media Group.
From Tuesday through Thursday this week, students can vote for next year’s ASI president and Board of Directors through the Cal Poly Portal.
Although I’m graduating this June and don’t have much incentive to vote, I still wanted to hear out these student government candidates. Quickly, I realized I was not especially impressed with any of the four presidential candidates as I read through their interviews and watched them answer debate questions. It made me wonder how, at a large public university with more than 20,000 students, this is the best we can do.
Then, I learned that the ASI president is compensated in the form of a full-ride scholarship, while senior ASI officers are awarded 25-75% of their cost of education.
The Student Leader Scholarship doesn’t just cover tuition. It extends to textbooks, room and board, and even transportation.
Surely, if more people were aware of this scholarship, there would be a larger group of students willing to commit themselves to running for student government, and in turn, a higher likelihood of impressive candidates. Unfortunately, as things stand, most students have zero knowledge of these scholarships, according to a random survey by Mustang News.
What they are also unaware of is the source of these scholarships’ funding, which is probably the more pertinent issue — and possibly a solution. A portion of each student’s mandatory ASI fees pay for 100% of these scholarships.
Though that may sound appalling, rest assured knowing it’s only about $2 a quarter per student. But I’ll bet it’s the first time you heard that, which is the real problem here.
ASI and University Union fees combine to cost each student about $1,200 every year, according to reporting by Mustang News. The student government is in charge of where these fees are directed.
I’m extra frustrated by this because of how often ASI candidates run on “fee transparency.” Thankfully, they now list a breakdown of the fee destinations, but it is not advertised in the slightest.
Still, the average student is not going to seek out the budget section of the ASI website. They should at least have the sense to post this fee breakdown on their social media accounts.
Not only do students not know what ASI does with their money, many are somewhat unaware of what ASI does at all. They know about the big concerts the group puts on and they’ll see people walking around wearing the ASI polo shirts in the Rec Center and University Union, but it’s hard to understand how ASI works without being directly involved with its operations.
That is a problem, considering it is meant to represent the student body.
Also, only 4,505 students voted in the election last year, making up about 20% of the population. I’m certain ASI would love a higher turnout, as it would mean more students care enough to go out of their way to vote on their campus representatives.
If they want to ensure they are representing the views of a higher proportion of the student body, they need to give students more reason to care.
Publicizing the Student Leader Scholarship might feel risky for ASI leaders. I think that’s evident, judging by the lack of effort to educate students about it. But I think it could do a lot to bring students into student government, if for nothing else than an enticing financial offer.
The purpose of the scholarships is to incentivize the positions and make them more accessible, but it feels like it’s being hidden from the general student population. This information and knowledge would be of interest to otherwise uninvolved students.
With more people involved, you can reasonably expect a higher level of competition for elected offices. Importantly, it would mean more new people with new, further developed ideas.
This scholarship should be publicized both to encourage students to take on this responsibility of ASI leadership and to inform student voters — they’re paying for it, after all.
John Washington is an Opinion Columnist for Mustang News. Before transferring to Cal Poly in Fall 2023, he wrote for the Diablo Valley College Inquirer. An avid local news supporter from an early age,… More by John Washington
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