OWEN HEMSATH
PRIDE STAFF WRITER
Armed with daring goals and two years of ASI experience, Travis Wilson is ready and anxious to begin service as the next ASI President. Having served already as Student Representative at Large and VP of External Affairs, this Communication major is ready to cut through the red tape and work with Cal State San Marcos administration to engage the student body.
The Pride was able to meet with Wilson immediately following the announcement of his win for an in-depth discussion of his presidential plans.
The Pride: What is on your agenda for next semester?
Travis Wilson: Man, there’s so much potential here. That’s why I’m really excited to get here and bring a lot of change. One of the biggest things is to take the accountability to visibility so one of things I want to immediately start doing is reaching out to all the different student organizations on our campus and inviting them to elect one representative to sit on my presidential cabinet which will meet monthly so that we can discuss the issues and so I can actually get face to face with them and hear what their concerns are.
TP: Is it going to be hard to push your agenda past administration?
TW: I think I have great working relationships with a lot of respect and we can agree to disagree on things. We’re here for the students, and there’s going to be times where we, the student body, we’re going to disagree with what the administration wants and we need make sure that we’re in a space where our voices are heard regardless of where we stand as a student body. I think there’s going to be a shock factor on the administration side of things; to actually have a student body that actually says, “Hey y’know, this is what we want and we are going to move forward with this.”
TP: Is there a lot of “red tape” that needs to be cut in order to get your agenda accomplished?
TW: There’s a lot of red tape. It’s not going to be easy, but I think we’ve got a really, really solid supporting cast, and now it’s just a matter of time of just sitting down and going. We are only as powerful as the students themselves, and so that’s where the visibility feature comes in and that’s where the student organization piece comes in. If we want to do something as a student government, and we have the support and backing of the students, then absolutely—we can move forward.
TP: You’ve talked a lot about accountability, and you also mentioned change. What does that mean to you?
TW: We’ve been elected to these positions, and we need to make sure students know who we are. So one of the things students can count on and anticipate is next year they’re going to see the Board of Directors out there at U-Hour, walking around Starbucks and talking to them—always open office. If students have concerns, we want to hear them.
We need to hear them. We want to amplify the voices of the student body especially with all the stuff that’s going on with the increase in fees. Students are paying 20 percent more than they were two or three years ago, so they need to know where there money’s going. They need to know what benefits and what services that they have now. Like I said, the whole thing really comes down to the students who support us, and so that’s why one of my key objectives and primary goals is to make sure we get in, push our student organization leaders to buy in to us, to have their ASI as the representative body and really making sure that they know that ASI is their voice.
TP: If you had the whole student body in a stadium right now and only 10 seconds to address them, what would you say?
TW: This campus is not run without you. We do not have an administration, we do not have a faculty without you and so your voices and your opinions all matter because you are the ones that make this place possible.
Disclaimer: The Pride transcribed this recorded conversation verbatim.
Photo courtesy of Philip Mykel Flores