Associated Students Inc. president, Isaac Julian, aims to create a sense of belonging for the Long Beach State community during the 2022- 2023 academic year.
“If a student recognizes me on campus, I’d hope they would be comfortable enough to talk to me,” Julian said. “I love talking to new people and I really want to connect with the campus.”
Julian and members of student government officials met with CSULB officials to build a pathway for communication to ensure they can reach each other for questions or concerns.
While serving his student government duties, Julian is also part of the President’s Ambassadors Program and the Political Science Student Association on campus.
Julian’s first significant step as president was speaking at the 2022 Convocation, which was held on Aug. 19 at the Carpenter Performing Arts Center at CSULB. He shared his vision for ASI and the campus community.
The ASI president aims to be more accessible to students by connecting with them during campus events, visiting club meetings and encouraging them to utilize his office hours.
“I really want to re-envision office hours. Instead of sitting in an office, I want to grab coffee with the student and have a conversation,” Julian said. “At the end of the day, we’re all students, and we’re all here for a reason.”
To prepare for the academic year, Julian familiarized himself with campus and his ASI colleagues. The student government also held a retreat to connect with each other during the summer.
“We were very intentional with instilling a sense of belonging in our student leaders,” Julian said. “We ensured our student leaders were well connected with the campus, with the resources offered here, and most importantly, with each other.”
Julian also spoke with former ASI presidents, including the 2017-2018 president, Joe Nino, who now serves as assistant director of government affairs for ASI. He sees Nino as a mentor and plans to reach out to the former ASI president for advice.
Julian said this role will allow him to practice his public speaking skills, as well as collaborate with different perspectives and have the opportunity to network with other people.