When ASUI Vice President Sarah Vetsmany first met her current counterpart, Nate Fisher, she admired him immediately.
ASUI president Nate Fisher serves students chips during the President’s BBQ Sunday in Memorial Gym.
“My first thought was, ‘who is this really happy, smiley guy who dresses really well?'” Vetsmany said.
Fisher’s fraternity brother in Beta Theta Pi, Ty Prince, met him during Rush Week in 2012.
“We were at this event, I was like, ‘yeah, I don’t really like this house,’ and he was like, ‘yeah, me either,’ and we just started talking,” Prince said. “I was impressed by how cool and outgoing he was, and how he could basically initiate a conversation with anyone, and then we wound up in Beta together.”
Vetsmany said a cheerful disposition and ability to talk and relate to anyone are the most noticeable qualities about Fisher, or Fish, as his friends like to call him. Both she and Prince agreed that Fisher is an easy-going, fun person to kick back with.
In the office though, it’s all business for Fisher.
“Fish is one of those guys you just look at and know that this guy’s going to do something big,” Prince said. “Don’t be surprised if you see him at the Capitol some day.”
Fisher said he caught the political bug from his father — who works in state politics — and envisions a career in public policy for himself. In fact, it was his political aspirations that influenced his decision to study agricultural economics at the University of Idaho.
“It was my mom’s suggestion,” Fisher said. “I was born and raised in Boise, and I don’t have any ag experience or background. But ultimately, I knew I wanted to live and work in the state of Idaho, probably Boise, and I think she understands that agriculture is such a huge part of the state of Idaho.”
Fisher’s interest in civics led him to ASUI Senate, and then to run for the ASUI presidency last spring. He said he has high hopes for his upcoming term, and also plans to tackle a few issues he didn’t originally campaign on.
Over the summer he attended State Board of Education meetings, conferences in Washington D.C. and local events, such as the Idaho GOP Convention and soon realized some of the most pressing issues for students weren’t necessarily on his initial platform.
“I’m going to be tackling the idea of student space,” Fisher said. “The space across from the info desk in the Commons is being used for the College of Education, but the Commons is funded through the student activity fee, so we should have access to that space.”
An integral part of Fisher’s platform in last spring’s election was improving and expanding internal collaboration within the Idaho Students Association — an alliance of student leaders across Idaho’s institutions of higher education to advocate for students’ rights at the State Board of Education. Fisher said this goal is still important to him, and he and former ASUI President Max Cowan are planning a summit in Boise in mid-November.
While Fisher admitted there’s been a learning curve in adapting to his new executive role, he believes he’ll ultimately be an effective spokesman for UI students.
“I often tell people my greatest strength is being a communicator,” Fisher said. “That entails two things — articulating what my constituents want, and to be a good listener and critical thinker, and I’m very confident in my ability to do that.”
Hannah Shirley can be reached at [email protected]