Randy Ko has been involved in student government since his freshman year in high school. He joined Emerging Lobo Leaders when he first began attending UNM, providing him a glimpse of what the Associated Students of UNM does on behalf of students on campus.
Last year, he took his first big step into student government, elected into ASUNM senate and becoming a voting member of the Student Fee Review Board.
The sophomore biochemistry major only became more involved in UNM after that, within ASUNM and without. He is currently an ASUNM representative forthe Student Publication Board, a member of the faculty senate undergraduate committee, a UNM Presidential Scholar, a UNM Trailblazers alumni ambassador, an ASUNM community experience member, the Phi Delta Theta scholarship chairman, and graduation chair for the Order of Omega.
“College is where you can find out where your passion is, and getting involved on campus is a good way for students to figure out what their passion is,” Ko said. “Many students don’t realize how many organizations are on campus and that there is something at UNM for everyone.”
Ko has been involved in launching many self defense projects geared toward students. These projects are not only about non-lethal defense tools, such as stun guns and pepper spray, but they also provide self defense classes and programs to educate students about what is going on around them.
As for student accessibility to ASUNM, Ko would like to create a survey system making sure adequate student input on all of the decisions ASUNM will be making is provided.
“There hasn’t been a great way to get student feedback, and it is somewhat complicated to make sure that the feedback we are getting is from actual students,” Ko said. “So, I would like to work with the IT department to add an aspect on MyUNM and an application for ASUNM on the website.”
To improve transparency among students and student government, Ko said he is looking into sending a weekly e-mail of the ASUNM agenda to students so they feel welcomed to attend the meetings.
“We have done all kinds of outreach, and we would like different ways on how we can get students involved in student government,” Ko said.
Ultimately, Ko said he hopes to become president of ASUNM as a way to create a true give-and-take relationship that offers collaboration and transparency to undergraduates.
“I envision a campus where students are not only a big part of the rule-making process, but also connected through the organizations that give students the experiences to make their college degree a strong foundation for their lives,” he said. “I firmly believe that being ASUNM president would present me with an opportunity to help create both a connected student body and a strong student community.”
Denicia Aragon is a staff writer with the Daily Lobo. She can be contacted at news @dailylobo.com on Twitter @DailyLobo.
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