By Melissa Martinez

News Editor

As of March 28, student voters elected Matthew Walsh to to represent the voice of students at CSUSM as ASI President & CEO for the 2013 – 2014 academic year.

As ASI president next fall, the first plan of action Walsh is preparing for is making ASI the most visible entity on campus.

“If students don’t know ASI exists, all of our hard work is meaningless. I want a student who is currently in the nursing program to know who their College of Education Health and Human Services representative is. I want students to know that ASI is fighting for them and we always will. Our best interests is in the students,” Walsh said.

Walsh stated that though he never planned on running for ASI president previously, his interest inclined as he became more involved on campus.

“I realized that I can help the university grow and help myself reach the potential by continuing to serve the university as ASI President,” Walsh said.

In discussing the main issues Walsh witnesses at CSUSM, Walsh said, “The biggest issues that the university and the students have is that the state government is not doing its duties. The California State government is not properly representing the students of CSUSM.”

Walsh believes that funding for education is being used as a political means and the only people to lose are students.

“We need a government that is willing to fight. I plan to represent students and meet with the city and the state government and inform them of the needs of the students,” Walsh said. “You need someone who is willing to build relationships to ensure that the students are properly represented.”

Walsh uses the example of Prop. 30 which was passed in the 2012 election. “The government is using education as a political ploy. They added the education initiative to the proposition because Governor Brown knew that if it involved education, people would fight for it,” Walsh said.

As well as representing the students of CSUSM, Walsh aims at improving the relationship between the city of San Marcos and campus. Walsh said that one of the successes ASI experienced last fall was building relationships on campus, having all the college representatives meeting with the provost and deans so that students and administration build a communicative relationship.

Currently, the San Diego native is majoring in social science and mathematics, while minoring in history and communications with plans to become a teacher or run for Vice President of the United States one day. Walsh’s involvements on campus include previously holding the position as a Resident Advisor for the University Village Apartments, a member of the University Student Union Advisory Board and is currently the Chair of the Board of Directors, Chief of Staff for current ASI President Scott Silviera, membership to the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity and works for the Vice President of Student Affairs within the Deans office. Walsh is also an advocate for the Civility Campaign and is a member of ACE Scholar Services, a program for former foster youth which targets students that were once wards of the state.

Being an ACE Scholar has provided Walsh a passion in supporting former foster youth through higher education since currently, 97 percent of former foster youth do not make it to a four-year university. Of the three percent that do make it to a four-year university, only 1.5 percent of those students attain a four-year degree. Walsh believes that he can provide hope for students on campus in the role of ASI president as a former foster youth.