After all the votes were tallied, the new ASUI president and vice president for the 2018-2019 academic year were named Nicole Skinner and Carlos Vazquez.
Their platform included three main points: student voices, resources and community.
Skinner, a second-year student studying political science and economics with a minor in psychology, is from Meridian, Idaho, and is a member of Gamma Phi Beta Sorority.
Skinner has worked at the Women’s Center as the sexual assault programmer for the last two years and credits the organization with giving her the idea to run for ASUI President.
“I would never had run for it seriously if one of my bosses hadn’t told me to run, and she also specifically told me to run with (Vazquez). She thought we would be a really good pair. But also, they taught me what it meant to be a good leader and ally, and I really don’t think I would be where I’m at right now without the Women’s Center,” Skinner said.
Skinner said she approached her time on Senate with the mindset there is no problem too big or too small.
One of Skinner’s first pieces of legislation was a resolution asking for transgender and nonbinary students to be allowed to use their preferred names on student accounts, transcripts and diplomas. Skinner said she worked on other projects, including the resolution passed a few weeks ago calling for UI Athletic Director Rob Spear to step down.
“I think there’s a lot of value in one-on-one conversations, and I think we embodied that throughout the campaign of having one-on-one conversations with as many students as possible, and I think we want to continue that with everything we do,” Skinner said.
Courtesy | Nicole Skinner
Nicole Skinner and Carlos Vazquez won the ASUI presidential election April 11 by 34 votes.
Vazquez is also a second-year student studying secondary education with an emphasis on social studies. Vazquez said he is a member of Omega Delta Phi, a multicultural Greek fraternity. Vazquez said he is heavily involved in the multicultural community at UI.
“I came to the university through the College Assistance Migrant Program, and they were the ones that really uplifted my college career as a whole. I came not wanting to come to a university or to pursue higher education. I was pretty focused on working at my job I had in high school, so I didn’t want to come. They pushed me to come,” Vazquez said.
Vazquez said he took advantage of many of the programs UI has to offer.
“After getting exposed to a lot of different programs and a lot of different resources on campus, like the Office of Multicultural Affairs, like the Women’s Center, like all the programs they put on, I think that’s what inspired me to do more, so I got involved with a lot of multicultural organizations last year,” Vazquez said.
Being involved in the multicultural side of UI is also important to Vazquez, who said he is currently on the executive board of UNITY, an umbrella organization for multicultural student organizations.
“I was involved with about four different ones and that was my way to get involved, and then I joined a multicultural fraternity, Omega Delta Phi, which I still hold pretty close to myself. I do consider that to be a pretty big part of my identity,” Vazquez said.
During his time on Senate, Vazquez said he has worked on projects which do not require much legislation. Vazquez said he is working with the Black Student Union to put together a diversity summit.
“I think both Carlos and I tried to promote diversity and inclusion throughout everything we do. We want to make sure every student is being heard and accepted on campus and feel safe at the University of Idaho,” Skinner said.
Sky Dean, a volunteer for the Skinner-Vazquez campaign, said she helped because they had a plan and cared about Dean knew they cared about students’ interest.
“I just feel they are very humbled candidates and I do not typically volunteer, and I have not tabled in my life, but I decided to give it a go because they are the woman and man with a plan and they’re who I wanted to win,” Dean said.
Kali Nelson can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @kalinelson6