Western Washington University students gathered in the Viking Union Multicultural Center to Zoom with legislators about bills and topics that focused on marginalized and intersecting identities for Western Intersectional Lobby Day on Feb. 20.
Western Intersectional Lobby Day is hosted by the Associated Students’ Ethnic Student Center, the AS Student Advocacy and Identity Resource Centers and the AS Environmental and Sustainability Programs.
Fourth-year Chelsea Joefield, a public health major and the ESC advocacy and programming coordinator, played a significant role in the creation of this year’s legislative agenda.
The agenda is a 13-page document with over 15 bills to advocate for and asks of the legislature.
The six categories in the agenda include:
Health accessibility
Incarcerated populations
Equity and justice
Support for undocumented and mixed-status families at Western and Washington state
Resources and infrastructure for students
Disabled communities
“Western Intersectional Lobby Day was and is an annual opportunity for students to advocate for bills and topics that are relative to the students that have intersecting identities,” Joefield said in an email. “The agenda for WILD is built by students and usually has input from offices such as the ESC, the SAIRC and the ESP.”
Third-year Shrija Gandhi, a psychology student and the SAIRC outreach and representation coordinator, also worked to organize the event and create the legislative agenda.
“Intersectional Lobby Day specifically targets marginalized identities and topics pertaining to them,” Gandhi said.
There was a wide range of bills that employees and volunteers brought to the legislature’s attention.
“We had a bill about making sure that domestic and sexual violence victims have extra rights when testifying in court,” Gandhi said. “There was also one about communicating with the families of missing and indigenous people about what’s happening with their cases. Those are the types of bills we look for and advocate for.”
Fourth-year Rahma Iqbal, public health major, volunteered at this year’s WILD. Iqbal was especially passionate about lobbying for the accessibility of the Washington Application for State Financial Aid and the Free Application for Federal Student Aid.
“To lobby for this I discussed my difficulties applying for WAFSA and FAFSA due to having a parent that did not attend college and being a part of an immigrant family that is unfamiliar with these practices,” Iqbal said in an email.
Pushing for these bills and agenda items continues, even though WILD is over. There is still work to be done to ensure that legislators know the wants and needs of Western students.
“Advocacy goes past having demands or asks for your government,” Joefield said. “It includes your presence in [legislator’s] offices (physical or virtual), follow-through, testimonies, research and so much more.”
For students who are interested in future lobbying opportunities or getting civically engaged, Gandhi encourages participation.
“Lobbying is so much easier than you expect,” Gandhi said. “Being able to talk to people who are supposed to represent you makes you feel much more powerful. Especially considering how crazy COVID-19 is and how small we all feel in society right now, it feels impactful.”
To stay up-to-date about future engagement opportunities, check out the OCE Instagram page or the ESC Instagram page.
Annabelle Stefanoff (she/her) is majoring in Political Science and Economics and triple minoring in Spanish, news/ed journalism and honors interdisciplinary studies. When not reporting, she enjoys undertaking multi-day baking projects and reading a good book.
