This school year, seniors Ashley Grant and Amber Williams will both assume the role of the presidency for the Associated Students of Mills College (ASMC). What follows is a Question & Answer session between The Campanil and the incoming ASMC co-presidents.
Campanil: Introduce yourself (major(s), minor(s), and any clubs or activities you’re a part of).
Ashley: double major, PLEA: Legal and Ethnic Studies; Senior Resident Assistant; Black Women’s Collective (BWC), past Vice President; Division of Student Life Ambassador.
Amber: PLEA Legal;
Black Women’s Collective (BWC) Community Outreach Coordinator; Phi Alpha Delta (PAD) member;
Alumnae Association of Mills College (AAMC) student liaison.
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Campanil: Why did you want to be ASMC president?
Ashley: The reason why I decided to run for ASMC president was because I believe in Mills and progressive change. And I honestly believe in being involved and being the change that you want to see. I think that holding such an important position on campus will enable me to make Mills a better place for students in the future.
Amber: I don’t believe in complaining about an issue if you don’t plan on being a part of the solution. There have been many issues that have come up during my three years at Mills and I would like to be a part of the process in solving some of these issues. I was already involved in many clubs and orgs on campus but I wanted to become more involved with the administrative side.
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Campanil: What’s the most exciting thing about the job you’re looking forward to?
Ashley: I am looking forward to making connections with students. Amber and I ran under the stance that we are student advocates and I believe that it is important to make connections in order to make decisions that reflect the popular student vote.
Amber: I am really looking forward to the open forum period during the weekly ASMC meetings. I am interested in hearing what issues are affecting the Mills community and what creative ideas arise from these discussions.
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Campanil: What issues do you feel are affecting Mills students?
Ashley: Although things are changing and moving forward there are not enough students on campus that are taking advantage of the resources that we have available on campus and that includes the resources that ASMC has to offer.
Amber: I think the Mills community feels disenfranchised. There have been many issues in the past few years that Mills students have felt strongly about, but felt that their voice went unheard. I feel that it is the ASMC’s job to serve as a bridge between the Mills community and the administration and make sure that the issues affecting students are voiced
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Campanil: Why did you want to run together for the ASMC presidency?
Ashley: We are really close friends and we have held positions on the same campus on BWC (Black Women’s Collective) executive board. We work well as partners and are both dedicated to making Mills a better place.
Amber: Ashley and I are very good friends and we work well together. We thought that with our comparable leadership styles, we could draw from each other’s strengths and better serve the Mills community.
