The Arizona Students' Association held its annual Youth Empowerment Summit at the Downtown Phoenix campus to promote affordable higher education, immigrant rights and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.
ASA, founded in 1974 as a student-led, nonprofit organization, focuses on empowering Arizona students to "create concrete change." Students from ASU, UA, NAU, GCU and various community colleges attended the three day summit that started on March 1.
Haley Creighton, the northern regional director of ASA, said the summit had more students in attendance than in previous years.
"Students are really feeling some pressure about student issues to actually get involved and organized around things that are going on in this country (and) in the state," Creighton said.
ASA members participated in student trainings throughout the day, covering topics such as state and federal-level government, as well as "Know Your Rights Training."
After President Trump's executive orders, Creighton said there have been many changes in immigration and higher education policies that students should know about.
"I really want students to feel hopefully not too defeated," Creighton said. "I really hope students come out of that feeling like they have the power to help and to make change and to get involved."
Mollie Schlarmann, president of Reproductive Freedom for All at ASU and a senior studying history and French, was a speaker during the summit's alumni panel, as she was an ASA fellow the previous year.
"It's so important to have students be involved in the decision making that's happening in our country," Schlarmann said. "So much legislation involves students and impacts students, and I think it's really important that students know that they are also able to impact legislation."
She also noted the importance of building community for effective advocacy.
"It's so important that we all come together," she said. "We have so much power when we're unified and organized into one collective."
ASA also held a student organization panel, where graduated and current NAU and ASU students spoke about how they practice strong leadership in their student organizations.
Hayden Nguyen, a sophomore at ASU studying management and business and co-chair of Students for Justice in Palestine, said the foundation of serving a community is showing up.
"You need to establish that with the people who you're both working to protect and the people you're trying to reach out to," Nguyen said. "Because how can you serve a community if they don't trust you?"
On Monday, ASA held a press conference in front of the Arizona State Capitol with state Democratic Sen. Lauren Kuby of District 8 and state Democratic Rep. Nancy Gutierrez of District 18. The press conference took place before students split into lobbying meetings, where they met with Arizona politicians to advocate for and against proposed legislations.
"We're at a time now where the federal government is not properly investing in our state, and we're going to really need our state leaders to step up this year and prioritize higher education in the budget, both for our state colleges and our community colleges," said Kyle Nitschke, co-executive director of ASA.
One of the bills the students were lobbying in favor of is HB2581, which would create a tracking system for sexual assault kits in the state of Arizona, according to the bill's language.
Jordan Lawrence, a senior at UA studying criminal justice and campus director at ASA, urges lawmakers to pass this bill.
"Too many survivors will sacrifice their belongings to evidence, recount traumatic experiences and go through an invasive physical examination only to have their justice denied," Lawrence said.
The bills ASA lobbied against this year were SB1002, which would prohibit using different pronouns or names for students under 18 without parental consent in public and charter schools; SB1694, which would deny state funding to higher education institutions offering DEI courses; and House Concurrent Resolution 2002, which ASA argues would impose unnecessary voting restrictions.
Alberto Plantillas, an ASU graduate student studying public policy and ASA's central regional director, criticized Senate Bill 1694, stating the bill would prohibit not only courses with DEI but scholarships with diversity initiatives.
"Based on the legislation, it would also pause a lot of scholarships, which would hurt the affordability question on campus," Plantillas said. "He (ASU President Michael Crow) didn't go into debt for going into school. Why should we?"
READ MORE: ASU community and state senators respond to DEI actions taken state and nationwide
Olivia Schrempp, an NAU student, said school was their safe place when they were younger and came out as non-binary. By passing this bill, Schrempp said students would lose this safe environment.
"SB1002 is directly stripping the rights that queer youth have worked too damn hard to gain," Schrempp said.
Sen. Kuby spoke at the press conference advocating for the students of ASA.
"I want you to know that the faculty and staff are aligned with you students and fighting for the future," Kuby said. "We know that we're in a fight for our lives now."
Edited by George Headley, Sophia Braccio and Katrina Michalak.
Reach the reporter at vcruzbut@asu.edu and follow @valeriacbutron X.
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