Julia Rutledge

Running for vice president for activities

Major: English

Below are excerpts from an interview with The Western Front. Why do you want to run for AS? “I already work in the AS as a board assistant and I actually work as the assistant for the position that I’m running for. VP for activities is the position that I know the most about. I hadn’t really considered running until I went to Viking Lobby Days and after that I felt empowered to do something with the AS. I’m really passionate about the AS, specifically the parts of the AS the activities works with such as the club system and the activities council, which I sit on. I am an officer in two clubs on campus so I think the club system is a really important part of Western and it’s something that should get support and more people should know more about.” What issues do you want to tackle? “The club system specifically, making it easier for students to understand. Right now people feel can like it’s a little bit inaccessible, a little bit bureaucratic. So I want to try and make the process of requesting funds and creating a new club to be a little easier and a little more comprehensive for students. I know that can be a big barrier. For a lot of students, being in a club is their only interaction with the AS, so having that interaction being one that is as positive as possible will help them to have a better view of the AS as a whole. How will you do that specifically? “Alex, the current VP for activities, is currently working on a guiding document to help students better understand running a club and I’m going to work with him. He’s currently running unopposed for VP of business operations. “I want to make sure the Club Hub, that’s the name for the club activities office, I want to make sure they’re getting the support they need and they’re getting the word out for lots of students because for many incoming freshmen, the Info Fair is where they learn about clubs. I learned about the clubs I’m involved in through Info Fair. “I want to provide a lot of support for clubs, and throughout the year I want to make sure people are able to join clubs and that clubs can advertise that they exist. Because a lot of the problem is that we have 250 active clubs on campus but not a lot of people know that and they have no way of finding that out. There’s a system that clubs use, OrgSync, and I want to make sure more students know how to use that.” How are you qualified? “As a board assistant, I help prepare for and run activities council and activities council is a huge part of the AS VP for activities job. That council dispenses tens of thousands of dollars to students on campus, specifically clubs and also it runs the Large Event Opportunity Fund, which dispenses funds to various AS offices, so it helps them put on events. “I work closely with Alex. We briefly did a video series called WWU Upkeep, which was posted on Facebook and it helped let students know what events were going on around campus. I’d like to try and get that going again.” How will you promote racial diversity or diversity of ideas between clubs? “My position doesn’t work as much with the ESC. The ESC, the Ethnic Students Center, has a lot of clubs that are specifically for students of various identities and nationalities and I think it would be great if the activities and diversity positions worked more closely together.”

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READ THE OTHER AS CANDIDATE INTERVIEWS:

President: 

Simrun Chhabra

Mary Moeller

Sterling Rettke

VP for Academic Affairs:

Hunter Eider

Julianna Jackson

VP for Activities:

Julia Rutledge

VP for Business and Operations:

Alex Lavallee

VP for Diversity:

Marquis Mason

Erick Yanzon

VP for Governmental Affairs:

Leanna Sauerlender

Ana Ramirez

VP for Student Life:

Fallon Acosta

Annie Gordon

Courtney Manz

           

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