The Executive branch of ASW represents the student body and coordinates with each individual branch. Additionally, the Executive branch oversees all advertising and financial decisions of ASW.
President, Benjamin Pok
The Student Body President is the chief liaison to the Board of Trustees and board committees. He selects and leads the Executive Directors as well as oversees the management of the ASW office and its functions. The President represents Westminster College on a local, state, and national level by serving on the executive board of the Utah Student Association and being a member of the National Campus Leadership Council.
Benjamin Pok is an Honors student triple-majoring in Pre-Law Political Science, Justice Studies, and International Marketing. Born and raised in Cambodia, Ben moved to the US at the age of 15 to finish his last year of high school at Juan Diego Catholic High School.
Ben has been a fighter against gender discrimination, sexual assault, domestic violence and corruption ever since he was 13, working as an intern for a non-profit organization in Cambodia, and in governmental affairs. He hopes to focus on combating these issues in the Westminster community, amongst a host of other important concerns that students may bring up and face.
He looks forward to welcoming you to the 2016-2017 academic school year. If you have any questions or concerns about your time here at Westminster, please feel free to reach out to him.
Vice President, Andrey Chen
The Student Body Vice President is the student representative within ASW, responsible for Alumni relationships and furthering the goals of the Career Center. The Vice President sits on several Board of Trustees committees and is responsible for hiring directors to assist with the student government’s responsibilities. This position’s duty is to actively advocate for and represent students in the internal campus community, in addition to assisting the Student Body President.
Moscow born and raised, Andrey is a senior double-majoring in Chemistry and Physics. He is looking forward to this year to actualize himself in the role of ASW VP and thereby, enrich the Westminster community as a whole. Outside of ASW, Andrey enjoys to play the guitar and dedicate his free time to arts.
Feel free to contact Andrey if you have any questions or just want to get to know him better. He will be more than happy to address any of your concerns.
Executive Creative Director, Kaydee Gilson
The Executive Creative Director manages all ASW promotions, and provides promotional assistance to any student club or activity. She acts as a resource to advertise upcoming events and student involvement opportunities––from a simple poster to a rigorous advertising campaign.
Kaydee is a junior Marketing major and Applied Computing minor. She is passionate about being involved in the Westminster community and has done so by serving as an ASW Senator, Design Editor of The Myriad, and a GriffinQuest member to name a few. Her goal as ECD is to be an approachable and helpful design and advertising resource for student clubs and organizations. Golf, tea, summer, traveling, Train, Adele, and gelato are a few of her favorite things.
Reach out to her and she’ll be more than happy to help you create your brand or next event campaign!
Director of Budget and Accounting, Wade Lenon
The Director of Budget and Accounting keeps budget records for ASW, authorizes all expenses, and reports financial information to the student body. The Director of Budget and Accounting also chairs the Opportunity Fund Committee.
Wade is an accounting major. He is excited to serve on the Student Board this year and to oversee the maximization of student fees. When Wade isn’t in the ASW office, he’ll most likely be out on a run or drooling over the newest, coolest car.
ASW Talks Executive Update
December 12, 2016
Dear Griffins,
It’s the most dreaded time of the semester again: finals week. We hope that you are all handling the stress well and will finish the semester strong. Here are a few updates that we’d like you to know about as we head into the new semester:
ASW Sustainability Fund & Eco-Council
In 2015, the ASW Senate approved the creation of the Sustainability Fund. The mission of the project is to award grants to students who would like to implement programs that improve Westminster’s sustainability efforts. This year, the Eco-Council was created to oversee the fund. The Eco-Council consists of 5 members: the ASW Vice President, the ASW Director of Budget and Accounting, an ASW Senator, and two environmental fellows appointed by the Environmental Center.
The primary function of the Eco-Council is to review applications for the grants, and to provide necessary support and guidance for the funded student projects. The Eco-Council is currently formulating the application process along with the rubrics, which will launch at the beginning of the next semester. The applications will be available for students on myasw.org.
The Safe & Brave Space Campaign
There is no doubt that the discourse of campus life was shaken after the president elections. The occurrences of hate crimes on our campus have become more visible, and many of our students do not feel safe in our community. As members in this shared space, we find that acceptable.
Because ASW’s mission is to “develop a sense of community, enrich the lives of students attending the college, and provide a forum for student concerns,” we will initiate a campaign in the Spring that calls on members of our community to come together to share their stories without fear of being judged, to step up and support one another through tough times, and to pledge to be an ally to marginalized communities.
Because we want this campaign to be fully inclusive of all people, we will be forming a committee to seek input and guidance from. We will be reaching out to folks over the break, but please let us know if you would like to be a part of the oversight committee of this project.
Westminster as a Safe Haven
I’m sure you all have read President Morgan’s Statement of Support for Undocumented and Vulnerable Students. If you haven’t, here’s where to find it.
We’d just like to take a moment to thank President Morgan and the administration for their demonstrated leadership of fully committing to protecting our students. As the first higher-ed institution in Utah to come forth and publicly state that we will protect our students, we hold our “Griffin” status with great pride.
ASW will be making a list that outlines the steps the college plans to take, and we will make it our utmost priority to hold the college accountable for their promises.
Final Thoughts
Please always remember that you are the backbone of ASW. As we approach the beginning of a new year and semester, we look forward to recommitting ourselves to serving you. Never hesitate to reach out to us if you have any questions or concerns. We wish you all the happiest of holidays!
All our best,
Ben and Andrey
November 7, 2016
Griffins,
I hope the month of October has been kind to all of you.
ASW Retreat
Earlier this month, the annual ASW Retreat was held to bring together every elected and appointed ASW official. It allowed us to come together as a whole, get to know each other, reflect on our goals, and inform everyone of the progress we’ve made thus far and will continue to make together.
Our keynote speaker, Dr. Christine Seifert, spoke about how we can do things that may seem little and insignificant, but have the gravest impact on the outcomes. She stressed that change doesn’t just happen without a structure rooted in progressive efforts. It was a refreshing reminder of the importance of the work that we all do.
President Morgan closed the event with a speech thanking students for their contribution to the issues in our community. He encouraged students to continue to speak up on issues that they felt passionate about. He also presented ASW with a check of $7,000. The money will be put towards two capital campaigns: ASW Innovate and ASW Opportunities.
Board of Trustees Meeting
The Board of Trustees meets four times a year and at those meetings, the ASW President presents to them the work of student leaders on campus. It is also a time for the President to raise issues of concern to the Board for deliberation and resolve. This week, the Board will be meeting for the second time this semester. Keep an eye out for the presentation on myasw.org.
ASW Innovate
ASW and President Morgan are each contributing $3000 to the ASW Innovate Fund. The ASW Innovate Fund is a project led by the ASW President to help students with entrepreneurship ideas and initiatives. Students can apply to qualify for assistance (whether that be financial, advertising, networking, advising, planning and more) to start a project on campus. Past recipients like TEDxWestminsterCollegeSLC, The Great Salt Lake Podcast, and The Tipping Point have received funds from ASW Innovate. It is a great way for students with big ideas to come forth and see them come to fruition. We will be launching our ASW Innovate campaign shortly, so please stay tuned.
Blue Light Safety Poles
The Blue Lights initiative is a security-driven program that ensures safety of students across the campus. Currently, there are a total of 9 fully operational safety poles, which serve as telephone booths (indicated by a bright blue light) that connects one directly with a campus patrol agent in case of an emergency. Coming shortly will be an updated campus map with the exact location of every Blue Light safety pole.
We are constantly seeking new ways to improve campus safety because it is Westminster’s and ASW’s top priority. As such, we are exploring additional avenues that would incorporate the use of technology to make sure responses to cases of emergencies are more accurate and efficient.
Final Thoughts
With all of these updates, I hope that you have feedback to share. The one thing we always remind students is that they are a part of ASW, and it is important to be active because these issues impact our campus life. Our office is always open, so please never hesitate to come talk to us. Your feedback is crucial to the work we do!
It is an honor to serve you this year.
Truly yours,
Ben and Andrey