Students set to elect new ASU representatives

With a historically low voter turnout during student elections, the ASU is using candidate forums to bring out the voters.

Elmira Muradkhanyan and Toby Douglas, Staff Writers

Arpi Danielyan speaks to the student body as she runs for commissioner of political affairs. (Holdenn Graff for the Valley Star)

Valley College hosted a forum Tuesday where 13 Associated Student Union candidates were given five minutes to convince the student body on why they should be elected to a leadership position for the 2025-2026 school year. 

The two-hour event took place at the Student Union Plaza, where eight audience members listened to the candidates' speeches. The positions up for grabs include president, vice president, treasurer, chief of justice, commissioner of campus and environmental affairs, ethnic and cultural affairs, health and wellness affairs, political affairs and student life. Five of the 13 candidates are running unopposed.

Presidential candidates Melvin Martinez and Keena Ballards used their five minutes to discuss their time at Valley and what they would do if elected. 

“My goal is to be available to students,” said Martinez, a child development and political science major. “I will work to eliminate obstacles, so every student understands their role in their educational decision-making.”

ASU presidential candidate Melvin Martinez at the forum. (Alejandro Rafael for the Valley Star)

Presidential candidate Ballards is a member of the Pride+ Club and is running to bring representation to campus. 

 “Having diversity and inclusion is very important,”  she said. “I’m a very diverse person and am part of four different communities. I am bi, I have autism and ADHD, I am of color and I am a woman. Those are the four communities I am a part of; there are students with over ten [of them].”

Vice presidential candidate WuDi Davis is one of the unopposed candidates, but she still attended the forum and made her appeal to voters. 

“One of the best things ASU does is that we are here to communicate with students, to come to us with concerns, issues, things to help us on campus,” said Davis, who volunteers for the Red Cross.

The candidates running unopposed include Davis (vice president) Erik Grigoryan (treasurer) Jasmine Varkey (chief of justice), Amy Llamas (commissioner of campus and environmental affairs) and Santiago Collazos (commissioner of ethnic and cultural affairs).

The candidates for commissioner of political affairs include Andril Lysak and Apri Danielyan, while Eric Ramirez and Hasmik Manucharyan will run against each other for commissioner of health and wellness affairs. Benjamin Levine and Chelsea Zavala are the choices for commissioner of student life.

According to the ASU website, the organization serves as the primary liaison between the student body and the college administration, allowing the Valley faithful to have their voices heard. It is separated into two different branches, the Executive Club Council and the Inter-Club Council. The first is a board of student-elected and appointed positions, while the latter is a board filled with representatives from all clubs on campus. Meetings take place every other Tuesday in the Student Union’s Skybox Conference Room.

ASU presidential candidate Keena Ballards at the forum. (Alejandro Rafael for the Valley Star)

The most competitive position featured at the forum was for student trustee, with four candidates running for just one available seat. The potential trustees fielded the largest number of questions from the audience, who were mainly concerned about their agendas.

The candidates include Ivana Barlow, Jasmine Monet Frances, Lorenzo Valdez-Larios and Khalil Xavier Robinson. 

Barlow responded to an audience member’s question about disabled student services.

“I have a child with special needs, and I had to fight for him, just like I will fight for our students,” said Barlow.

Students will have a chance to vote for their preferred candidates from April 28 to May 2 on their student portals. The ASU is hoping that making voting accessible on the portal will increase voter turnout. This has been an issue in the past, with voter turnout for ASU elections consistently remaining relatively low. In the spring of 2021, 1.68 percent of the Valley student body cast their ballots, followed by just 3 percent in 2023.