The Associated Students at the University of New Mexico’s elections will take place from April 1, 9:00 a.m. to April 2, 5:00 p.m. There are three candidates for President, three candidates for Vice President and 11 candidates for ASUNM Senate. To view all the candidates and cast your ballot, go to vote.unm.edu
ASUNM Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Bailey Rutherford is running for ASUNM President (ballot #3) alongside Office of Communications Director of Web Design Zoe Baca, running for ASUNM Vice President (ballot #2).
One of the main topics of their campaign is resisting actions by President Donald Trump’s administration, specifically policies meant to restrict diversity, equity and inclusion, they said.
“Regardless of the language that is used, regardless of the program, our administration is committed to uplifting those opportunities and continuing to protect those initiatives that students can lean on to help provide the service that they need,” Rutherford said.
Last year, the Trump administration directed all federal departments to terminate DEI programs and has targeted universities with race-based programs by withholding federal funding. At the same time, UNM’s administration reaffirmed its commitment to diversity in light of federal actions.
Rutherford is studying secondary education with concentrations in English and music and previously served as an ASUNM senator, finance chair and president pro tempore. They have served as part of MEChA, a student organization focused on Chicanx activism, as an executive member of the Phi Iota Alpha fraternity and as chair of the UNM Joint Council.
Baca is studying architecture with a concentration in design studies, is a member of Kappa Delta Chi sorority and was a member of Emerging Lobo Leaders.
“Our campaign is rooted in somos comunidad, which is ‘we are community,’” Rutherford said. “We want to ensure that we are taking a step back from the titles that we may have, and really spotlight the fact that UNM is a space for all students, regardless of if you have a title or not, and we want to make sure that UNM thrives together.”
Baca said an initiative to increase knowledge of the resources ASUNM provides and engagement with student government is the reestablishment of traveling office hours for senators.
“Making sure we as an administration go out within the community and make sure that students can physically see us and the resources that we have and that we offer to students that they know that that is an option, and that is something they have access to, and they absolutely should take advantage of. So just making sure to reestablish ourselves back into the community is something that we really, really are hoping to do,” Baca said.
Some of the campaign initiatives focused within ASUNM include expanding the Emerging Lobo Leaders mentorship pipeline, hiring more ELL members inASUNM, , creating a separate office for presidential advisors to create initiatives themselves, and supporting the incoming University president.
Baca’s other priorities are menstrual products provided in all bathrooms on campus and increasing mental health resources for students.
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
“We want to work on having this proactive and policy-driven approach within the Senate,” Baca said. “Making sure that students feel supported and heard and valued, and that is something that we feel strong and passionate about, and something that we continue to we'll continue to work on no matter what.”
Jaden McKelvey-Francis is the editor-in-chief of the Daily Lobo. He can be reached at editorinchief@dailylobo.com or on X @jadenmckelvey
