Campus, News

ASI presidential candidate: Genesis Jara

President Genesis Jara has focused her Associated Student Inc. presidential campaign on working with underrepresented communities at Long Beach State.

“I have 10 commissioners that represent communities and each have a student organization for their community,” she said. “We do this to bridge the gap between ASI and the student body.”

The junior business major and first generation college student implemented a political outline of goals that she looks to undertake if re-elected, as well as building off of current projects that she put in place during her tenure as ASI president.

Jara looks to expand support for students who experience food insecurity by increasing donations for the Beach Pantry and expanding the acceptance of Electronic Benefits Transfer  among establishments on campus. According to Jara, she increased Beach Pantry usage by 300 percent during her first term by ramping up exposure and outreach.

As student homelessness remains an issue at LBSU, Jara wants to partner with local nonprofit companies to provide assistance for students with housing needs.

Jara also wants to make the campus more inclusive for students who require classes at non-traditional times. With the help of faculty, she looks to add more night and weekend courses to broaden opportunities for working students.  

“We have a lot of students who are returning students and might have their own families and prefer to take night classes,” Jara said. “We’ve already started the process by talking with the provost.”

Jara looks to provide continued assistance for parents on campus. She added a planning and parenting commissioner to run the Parenting and Students Club. The club will be a building block for her goal of offering a drop-off childcare center for student parents to utilize while they take midterm and final exams.

Americans with Disabilities Act compliance for buildings on campus is also an issue that Jara plans to focus on. On the top of her list is Faculty Office 4, which Jara said is not ADA compliant.

“The resource center in FO4 is basically falling apart … you walk on the second floor and the rails rattle,” she said. “We’ve added it to the CSULB physical master plan, so even when we’re gone it’ll be addressed.”

Hannah Getahun, Assistant News Editor contributed to this article.

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