Undergraduate Student Government is ushering in two new departments this year in hopes of better serving ASU students.
This is the inaugural year for the Health and Wellness Department, which will promote its namesake, and the Community Development Department, will bridge the gap between students and their government, said Brendan O’Kelly, chief of staff for USG.
Health and Wellness Director Anarina Murillo said her new department will primarily promote preventative health education. Prevention is more effective than the treatment of illness, and maintaining health and wellness are acquired skills aim to provide long-term benefits, Murillo said.
“I am here to serve as a voice for our community,” she said. “I want to raise awareness to the value of health because it is critical to our academic success and personal growth.”
She said she will collaborate with existing campus resources and reach out to student organizations.
“We want to engage students to utilize these resources,” Murillo said.
USG’s other new addition, the Community Development Department, was created to fill a gap in communication between student organizations and USG, said Claire Dechambre, the department’s director.
O’Kelly said a product of this would be more students taking a bigger part in their government.
One goal is to get 10,000 undergraduates to vote in the USG election in April, said O’Kelly, a sophomore and political science and history major. He said a little more than 3,000 undergraduates voted in the last election.
“We want students to know about the policies we’re fighting for. For students not to participate, is kind of a shame,” O’Kelly said.
He also said students should come to USG with questions.
“Students should be asking, ‘Why am I paying this fee? Why are books so expensive?’ ” O’Kelly said. “We want to get students to be concerned about those issues and affect a positive change.”
One way the new department hopes to facilitate change is by bringing student leaders and organizations together, thereby creating synergy among the groups, said Dechambre, a senior global studies major.
This new department’s efforts will culminate in the spring with “The Big Event.”
It will promote campus and community unity as students come together for one day to express their gratitude for the support from the surrounding community by engaging in service-oriented activities, Dechambre said.
“This event has now spread to 71 universities across the nation, and it is my hope to include ASU in this exciting opportunity,” he said.
Reach the reporter at philip.haldiman@asu.edu.
