ASUNM Presidential and Vice Presidential elections: Isabel Castañeda and Ria Schultz

Isabel Castañeda (ballot #4) and Ria Schultz (#2) are vying for the roles of President and Vice President of the Associated Students at the University of New Mexico, respectively, with a primary focus on improving campus inclusivity and accessibility. 

Castañeda — who has been involved in ASUNM for a year — currently serves as the director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. Schultz is ASUNM’s President Pro Tempore and has held various Senate positions over the past three years.  

“I think there’s a lot of progress that can be made,” Schultz said. “This past year (has) done a really good job at creating a lot of progress within ASUNM, and I would really like to see that continued.”

Both candidates want to prioritize campus inclusivity and accessibility at the legislative level, where they would have the opportunity to advocate for one-time funding for the University, they said. For example, Castañeda said she would request money to add more braille to buildings across campus. 

“Accessibility-wise, it’s a bit more tricky just because it goes through a lot more hoops than just trying to make sure we’re constantly in talks with the student body,” Castañeda said. “It goes in talks with President Stokes and Provost Holloway, and also the State.”

Castañeda wants to increase the accessibility of the pathways through campus, particularly for students who are visually impaired, she said.

Schultz would utilize connections she has within the Dean of Students office to receive assistance with determining additional avenues of funding for campus accessibility, she said.

“Obviously, ensuring the entirety of campus is accessible is a really big task. I think they would have a good idea on where to get that funding,” Schultz said.

Castañeda’s other presidential priorities would include increasing access to fresh produce on campus and continuing the relationships ASUNM has with other campus entities, she said. Castañeda cited Joint Council as one example of such a relationship. Joint Council is made up of student representatives from different areas of campus who provide ASUNM with feedback on University initiatives and ASUNM business, according to their website.

She and Schultz are currently the speaker and the Vice Chair of the Council, respectively.

“(Joint Council has) representatives from all over campus — whether that’s schools, colleges, resource centers, even residence housing,” Castañeda said. “And I think (we’re) going to continue that -- maybe even grow it to more student organizations or different areas of student life here on campus.” 

The ASUNM vice president oversees the Senate, which has its own governing body, Schultz said. If elected, Schultz would emphasize ensuring the Senate has the resources it needs to make their ideas heard, she said. 

“As much as I think that there’s really awesome priorities I definitely want to push for (in the Senate), I want to make sure that the Senate has availability to make the change that it wants to see on campus,” Schultz said.

Aside from accessibility, the candidates want to use next year’s legislative session to ensure that the Opportunity Scholarship is maintained for students, Schultz said. She also mentioned an outdoor amphitheater project that ASUNM received funding for designing last session, stating she would push to get funding for the actual building of the amphitheater if elected.

“If we’re getting hundreds of thousands of dollars for it, I want to make sure that it’s something we continue on and make sure is actually achievable,” Schultz said.

Regarding the work they have done in ASUNM so far, Schultz is most proud of legislation she passed, which was designed to increase transparency around appropriations, she said. Casañeda said she is most proud of the work she has done to increase representation in Joint Council. 

“Whoever gets in — if it’s us or anyone else — we just want to make sure that all the students are heard, and this campus is becoming more inclusive and accessible and becoming one big, giant community altogether,” Casañeda said.

ASUNM’s elections begin Wednesday, March 20 at 9 a.m. and close on Thursday, March 21 at 5 p.m. according to the ASUNM Elections Commission. Polling locations have yet to be announced. 

Lily Alexander is the news editor for the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at news@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @llilyalexander

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