Graphic by Elise Bechtel
By Emily Chang
Daisy Navarrete, third-year health science major, and Jazmin Guajardo, third-year nursing major, are running for ASI Student Government president and vice president for the 2023-24 academic year. Navarrete is a student assistant for the Dolphin Pantry with the Basic Needs Program, and Guajardo is a peer mentor with the Student Success Center Educational Opportunity Program, student assistant for Student Organizations & Involvement and a night-shift certified nursing assistant.
The two are running for president and vice president because they know the importance of students having a sense of belonging and support on campus, as well as understand the difficulty of the transitions students face, including those brought on by the pandemic. Navarrete stated, “We want to ensure the needs of our peers are met with equity in mind.”
Traveling with a CI student club to Washington D.C., Navarrete had the opportunity to meet with senators and advocate for Latinx issues. Guajardo has experience as a Student Government intern and as Senator of Student Engagement. She has also participated in ASI Student Government Lobby Corps twice, this year advocating at the state capital to expand CalFresh eligibility and student loan debt. “(Returning) to Student Government feels like home, and I hope to share that with our peers and student leaders,” said Guajardo.
If they are elected, Navarrete and Guajardo would like to see more student support through tutoring, scholarships, spaces for students to gather and study, counselors for Counseling and Psychological Services and Disability Accommodations & Support Services, as well as resources and opportunities for undocumented students. The two would also like to see increased student engagement with school event participation and more opportunities for clubs and organizations to collaborate, to foster a greater sense of community.
At monthly meetings with all 23 CSUs, they plan to lead and represent the student body through use of personal narratives to garner support for resources and services. As peer mentors, Navarrete and Guajardo have experience gathering personal testimonies through surveys and one-on-one outreach. Their priority lies at representing and supporting first generation students, non-traditional students and historically underrepresented students that have previously lacked access to support resources.
“(We) want to make students proud that they’re attending CSU Channel Islands,” said Navarrete, and they plan to do so by building on what the previous student government did. They aim to foster a welcoming environment for students of underrepresented backgrounds, continue improving community partnerships and increase civic engagement and student involvement. This includes encouraging students to participate in Lobby Corps and California State Student Association, as well as starting the momentum for voter registration in the upcoming 2024 election.
The two candidates also want to be more accessible to peers through displaying office hours and meeting students where they are by visiting campus centers and tabling. Guajardo explained, “We want to make the process significantly easier for our students to reach out to us and share their individual and group experiences so that we are able to invoke true and substantial change.”
Navarrete and Guajardo expressed that fostering equity, diversity and inclusion on campus creates a culture that allows students to respect one another. CI can work on ensuring all students feel safe, supported and welcome on campus. The candidates also want to create transparency and showcase the work being done within campus projects and outline a better way to encourage students to join committees and projects to share their personal experiences.
Navarrete and Guajardo believe they are the best ticket for students to vote for because they are committed to hearing what their peers have to say and their training as peer mentors will help them ensure their peers feel heard and seen. Guajardo concluded, “We want our peers to know that it is our priority to ensure students receive the most of their experience at CI, by being supported by programs, events, and initiatives that align with their values and needs.”
Students can vote electronically in the ASI Elections through the online CI Sync portal. The ballot opens at 8:00 a.m. on April 11 and will close at 5:00 p.m. on April 12. To vote in person, students can attend the Channel Your Vote events on the Student Union Lawn, April 11 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and April 12 11:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Questions can be directed to asielectionscouncil@csuci.edu.
