Three new ASU members in, three members out

The ASU gets new blood into its ranks after others left earlier in the semester.

By Gabriel Arizon, Editor-in-Chief

The Executive Council voted three new members into the ASU last month, as other members vacated their positions.

On Sept. 24, the ASU voted for four students to fill in the positions of vice president, commissioner of health and safety, commissioner of political and external affairs and commissioner of social media. David Nargizyan, Leilani Alvarez, Saulo Abundis and Jonas Liatis won their respective categories unopposed (at least three candidates did not show up). However, Liatis resigned from his position soon after.

Nargizyan, a philosophy major, was a part of his high school student council for three years. His leadership experience includes being the vice president of the student body during his senior year. He is a tutor for diverted youth — those in the juvenile justice system — and contributed his graphic design skills to help various Valley College clubs with their designs.

“My two main goals are to help start the process of recycling on campus and to help return Valley College to its glory days of activism,” Nargizyan said, “back when public figures such as Bill Clinton and Angela Davis would come to visit and give speeches.”

Freshman Alvarez is a nursing major with plans to move into public health. In addition to improving student awareness of available campus health resources, her goals include creating a safer and healthier environment.

“I knew that by becoming a commissioner, I was representing the entire student population at Valley and that encourages me to be mindful of the needs of the students and to strive to fulfill their needs,” Alvarez said.

Political science major Abundis became a full-time student this year, having been part-time at Valley since 2016. His leadership experience includes founding his own club in high school — the Classy Club — helping teach etiquette to boys without fathers. His club taught skills like tying a tie and giving a firm handshake.

“I plan to … meet with students regarding policies they think we should challenge the district on, and/or policy ideas they want to suggest,” Abundis said.

Liatis was not the only student to resign from his position this semester. Ani Apikyan, Evelyn Soriano and Angela Darpinian resigned from their position as vice president, commissioner of health and safety concerns and commissioner of fine arts, respectively. The Star reached out for comment, but none responded in time for this report. According to ASU office secretary Evelyn Pichardo, students often resign because they need to work and are unable to make time for the ASU.

“For the most part, students come in and sign up for it, but don’t understand the full commitment,” Pichardo said.