Updated 11:20 a.m. September 20 to include additional responses from board members.
At the end of August, ASCC filled eight empty positions left open due to low voter participation without formal announcement.
The fall 2021 executive board members are as follows:
- President: Daniel Caldera
- Treasurer: Tae-Wan Kim
- Student Trustee: Taylor McNeal
- Legislative Liaison: Arvin Shahid
- Senator: Hala Fakhoury
- Senator: Jessie San
- Commissioner-at-Large: Nancy Arita
- Commissioner-at-Large: Hector Reyes
- Commissioner of Inter-Club Council: Arianna Emajo Flores
- Commission of Public Relations: Michelle Barragan
After the April election, the executive board was made up of only a legislative liaison, student trustee, and three senators.
Senator Jessie San was one of the few that were elected formally during the April elections. San said in an email she utilized social media to her advantage by campaigning through group chats from classes and making class announcements.
San said she does not have experience in student government, but she is president of the Model United Nations at Citrus which has made her familiar with formal speech and procedures of student government.
Due to protective health measures and lack of social engagement, voter turnout was low, Caldera said in an email.
“Once we began sending out mass emails and utilizing social media, we began to have more and more people submitting applications to be involved,” Caldera said.
He said he gathered over 30 willing students and personally interviewed them through Zoom to fill the open positions.
Treasurer Tae-Wan Kim said in an email interview that he was appointed Aug. 31, after the semester started. He also said he has no experience in student government but is familiar with leadership roles.
He said he “read a lot about Economics” and is also a business major, which he believes could be beneficial in making governing decisions at Citrus.
Kim said his goal is to make a positive difference at Citrus and is looking forward to a student event where they feel engaged and safe.
Caldera also said many of the appointees have previous student government experience in high school or work in related leadership positions.
Commissioner-at-Large Nancy Arita, who was also elected in late August, said in an email she was active in high school leadership clubs as President of Renaissance and AVID, or Advancement Via Individual Determination.
“I was involved in organizing community service events with my city,” said Arita. “In those years, I learned a lot about my community. I learned about the areas in my community that needed more help and organized service events to give more attention to projects.”
Despite the overall lack of experience of the board members, Caldera is optimistic about what they will do for ASCC.
“I sincerely believe we have an amazing ASCC executive board consisting of students who possess natural leadership abilities, compassion, understanding, and are just all-around amazing people who just want to make a difference and set the example for future owl’s to emulate,” Caldera said.
