For instances when PLU’s student body and administration face a disconnect in communication, the Associated Students of PLU (ASPLU) is set up to bridge that gap. This past fall brought in a new President, Ash Bechtel, and Vice President (VP), Taylor Pasquel, who aim to do more than just connect students with the administration. ASPLU serves the student body through legislation and communication with PLU faculty and organizations.
ASPLU states on its website that their mission is “to promote the growth of the collective student body community as a whole while actively encouraging the advancement of the individual.” The role of the VP in this vision is, “to uplift the directors and the events they create… the passion projects they have going on,” said Pasquale.
ASPLU can uplift these projects by engaging with the campus community through the passing of bills and resolutions. While bills involve the transferring of money, resolutions serve to speak on the values of the student government. ASPLU receives the budget for Senate projects and Director-led programs to act on their Diversity, Justice & Sustainability (DJS) Statement and mission. “There is $500 for Senator projects… there is $1000 for miscellanea; Director projects that they want to put on as well.“
While the ASPLU website doesn’t have current events listed on the Senate Projects and Director Projects, Pasquale mentioned that “Dead Week snacks used a part of that fund, of $1500, and we will use it for the springtime if the Bill is passed.” The Dead Week Treats Bill was initiated in the Fall of 2021 to give out snacks to students during the pre-finals week. It has been voted to repeat since then.
Lutes can interact with ASPLU by attending Senate meetings every Tuesday from 6:30-8:00 p.m. in the Regency Room (AUC 203). Pasquale comments that communicating with PLU clubs and organizations happens when representatives “[C]ome to Senate meetings… talking about their groups.” Pasquale added, “We always offer time for public comments. We really like when people take us up on that.”
PLU clubs can apply for financial support from The Student Activities & Resource Fee (SARF). Pasquale is an ASPLU representative on the Student SARF Committee, “I think it’s really important that we see different individuals who ask for proposals. We take that all into consideration and see if SARF is the best place to help them. Usually, it is,” said Pasquale. This year, SARF started with a balance of $129,209.24 leftover from previous years. The Student SARF Committee also collected $44,480 from the students’ $20-semester fee. According to the
PLU website, $165,904.22 of $174,689.24 were successfully allocated for PLU clubs and their activities.
The latest changes within ASPLU saw the passing of Senate Bill 8 from the fall 2023 referendum, appropriating $25,000 to pay ASPLU Senators and programmers. Representatives are currently being paid for their work. “We [are] allocated four hours a week for a Senator, and we have 11 Senators. The minimum wage stays the same. We [VP and President] are both allowed a maximum of 19 hours per week because we have… different responsibilities than Senators and Directors,” said Pasquale. She added that her position does take 19 hours per week most of the time.
ASPLU is not working on any Bills currently, but is working on By-Laws which are “[B]asically the constitution of ASPLU, how we should go about things, and also looking at how our executive election packet is.”
When it comes to ASPLU transparency, Pasquale promised to update the website and “[M]ake sure that everything is up to date because it is so important.” For now, Lutes are encouraged to first turn to the ASPLU Instagram in case of any questions as it has the recent Senate meeting recordings and an updated list of people and their positions, which the ASPLU official website is lacking.
