Student governments were a lot more prominent in high school, but PLU students may be finding themselves wondering: where’s ours?
Many PLU students are unaware of Associated Students of PLU (ASPLU), the university’s student government. In fact, according to recent surveys conducted by the Introduction to Strategic Communication class in Fall of 2025, a large percentage of the student body does not know what ASPLU is. In the past few years, ASPLU has been slowly losing its connection to the student body, resulting in a loss of student involvement highlighted by last year’s three per cent voter turnout. This past semester, they realized this absence and have been undergoing major changes to their program in order to come back stronger. So, what exactly have they been doing? What exactly do they do?
ASPLU serves as a middle ground between the students and faculty to serve the student body and bring the changes to campus that students want to see. Emily Alicea, a current sophomore and member of ASPLU, brought an inside perspective to why the program is struggling and what they are actively doing to revive their program.“We are not properly communicating on what we are actually doing. We’ve been actively doing a lot of work, but I feel like people aren’t noticing that anything is different now that ASPLU isn’t a thing versus when it was, and that is a problem we are trying to fix.” Their solution to this issue was to work in accordance with Professor Amy Young’s Introduction to Strategic Communication class to evaluate past inconsistencies and how they can go about getting more students involved in the program.
They raised the question: What should ASPLU look like in 2026 and beyond? Professor Young responds, “a voice for students, a place where students can bring concerns and have them heard, and an advocacy group for students with faculty and administration.” The school has seen ASPLU fill this role in the past, such as when students wanted to have plastic water bottles removed from campus. This resulted in the many reusable water bottle refill stations being installed on campus and Old Main Market no longer selling plastic water bottles.
Another example: Current first-years only know a school where they could park anywhere they want. However, in the past, they were restricted to just Morken and Olsen lots. After frustrations arose, this issue was brought to ASPLU and now first years can park anywhere on campus. ASPLU has been the voice of change for students in the past, having the power to make impactful changes on campus, but have become less of a prominent figure in student affairs over the past few years.
This year, ASPLU is taking time to focus on themselves and reflect on what they can do to improve their program so they can continue to bring solutions to student concerns. Alicea explains, “We’ve been sending out information to other student governments in our district, every member of the Northwest Conference . . . so we can get back how their student governments are succeeding.” From there, they can make changes to our student government to replicate the success that the other student governments such as University of Washington and Washington State University have had.
ASPLU is actively attempting to recover from its lack of student involvement, and has been working with Professor Young’s class to build this new identity. They became a ‘client’ for the class, which conducted research about PLU’s perspective of their student government, and if they even knew that they had one. Professor Young gives insight, saying that “if they focus on educating other students about who ASPLU is and what they want to accomplish, and give students a way to engage with them, they can draw more interest.” She also thinks that rebuilding their identity involves “getting people to trust that ASPLU is here for them.” Young emphasizes that this rebrand is not about overcoming a poor reputation. Instead, it involves reintroducing the program so that they have “sustained visibility,” improved communication and a prominence in the mind of the student body.
ASPLU plays a pivotal role, addressing student concern, but has been put on the backburner because of the fatigued structure, its struggle with involvement, and minimal outreach to students. When discussing the structure of student governments, Young explains: “most university student government systems were set up literally 50 years ago, and all over campuses we’re seeing a decline in membership. And I think that’s likely because a model from the 70s is not relevant.” This lack of relevance explains the need for something new. With the help of current student perspectives, they are making changes to redirect the program to a more modern governance.
ASPLU is crucial to many areas of student life on campus, and especially to the staff-student relationship that is deeply valued here at Pacific Lutheran University. Professor Young emphasizes, “Faculty ALWAYS want to know how students are doing, how you feel, what your experience is in our classes and on campus. ASPLU is a way for us to know and to ask questions so we can do a better job for our students.” This program is a building block to creating a fair, inclusive, and accessible university where students can create inspiring change. With this rebrand, they hope to rebuild their relationship with the student body and make positive changes on campus, starting in fall of 2026.
For students wondering when ASPLU is actually coming back, Alicea assures, “ASPLU is on pause right now, but it’s going to be fully up and running next year.” However, this hold does not mean that ASPLU is not active. Should a student have any suggestions for change they want to see within PLU, they can still get a hold of them either through their office on the first floor of the University Center or through their Instagram, which is @asplu_lutes. If you’re interested in being more involved with the program, keep an eye out for next year’s application process, and attend their meetings on Tuesdays at 6:30 PM, which are also live-streamed on their Instagram.
