Associated Students’ 2024-25 president Nayali Broadway spoke with the Nexus about her work over the summer as well as plans to support the student body, expand student services and maintain a strong line of communication throughout the association.
When asked what the main goal of the association is, Broadway said it is to serve the student body by catering to specific needs. Maddy Fangio / Daily Nexus
Third-year political science and sociology double major Broadway spent her summer hiring for the Associated Students Office of the President (ASOP) and planning the Associated Students (A.S.) Orientation, Networking and Empowerment (O.N.E.) Leadership retreat which occurred from Sept. 25-26.
Her goal for A.S. O.N.E. this year was to ensure that all members of the association have the base information and tools to achieve both individual and collective association-wide objectives. Broadway spearheaded trainings on basic procedures including how to access Boards, Commissions and Units’ (BCUs) bank accounts, how to become an authorized signer and how to book meeting spaces.
“As a collective, we all have similar goals, but then we also have our own individual missions within our own entities. And while we’re all contributing to that main goal of the association … we want to make sure that everybody has the resources and has the knowledge to go into their position and feel prepared,” Broadway said.
When asked what the main goal of the association is, Broadway said it is to serve the student body by catering to specific needs.
“I feel that each entity has a kind of niche topic that they all serve. And students will tell you what they want based on what they’re interested in,” Broadway said. “I feel like that’s really important, because no matter what, everybody’s going to have some type of topic or niche that they’re interested in. So catering to that is really important to me, and I think it’s really important that these individuals that are in these entities know how to do that.”
To address the student body’s concerns over a lack of career resources, Broadway partnered with Student Advocate General and third-year computer science major Alvin Wang to work towards providing LinkedIn Learning to students for up to six months after they graduate.
The platform allows students to earn professional certificates which show up on their LinkedIn profiles, which according to Broadway gives them a leg up during the job search process.
“It’s been apparent that many students have expressed dissatisfaction with our career services,” Broadway said. “So we think that it’ll just be a boost to our career services on campus. We’re trying to lock down that contract so that students can have access to that.”
After the police sweep of the UCSB Liberated Zone encampment on June 23, where five students were arrested, Broadway met with Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Margaret Klawunn to discuss student concerns about the police raid. She noted feeling “unsatisfied” after their conversation.
“I essentially went in and asked questions, like why we needed a S.W.A.T. team and the things that I was seeing on social media — because there was a big social media uproar about it. So essentially, I was asking [about] everything that I was seeing, and the answers that I was given were, ‘Oh, I didn’t know about it. I wasn’t notified about it beforehand,’” Broadway said.
Broadway shared a Google Form in an email to the student body in response to compile student questions and concerns about the police sweep which she plans to communicate to administration in the future. In her email she also addressed the situation by providing links to resources such as Educational Opportunity Program (EOP) emergency grants and the A.S. Community Financial Fund.
“To me, it kind of felt like, why are we having this meeting if you don’t have any of any of the answers to my questions? Which is why I put out that statement and the Google Form at the bottom, just so that if anybody did have questions, I could meet with the people that do have answers,” she continued.
In response to recent University of California (UC) protest restrictions, which prohibit mask-wearing to conceal one’s identity and ban encampments, Broadway said she did not support that the “UC has gone that far to prevent students from protesting” peacefully. She is working with other UC campus presidents on how to address student concerns about this issue.
“I genuinely feel like it’s kind of a breach to the First Amendment right — free speech, free protests,” Broadway said.
Broadway plans to begin work this quarter on promoting A.S. food pantries and providing support to food-insecure students in collaboration with the Commissioner of Environmental Sustainability and California Public Interest Research Group (CALPIRG).
She has also met with Campus Advocacy, Resources & Education (C.A.R.E.), Health & Wellness, the Women’s Center and Mental Health Peers to discuss improving mental health services.
During her tenure as president, Broadway hopes to be approachable and accessible to her peers. By keeping her office open, offering regular appointment times and reaching out to students herself, she wants students to feel comfortable using her as a resource. Furthermore, Broadway aims to connect with students by hosting events throughout the year, such as culture shows.
“I definitely want to be the type of person that, you see me sitting outside or sitting in the Arbor, and can come and say hi to me, because I’m a normal student, my position does not put me in any type of higher power,” Broadway said.
This year, Broadway plans to take measures to remain transparent with and support students. These strategies include attending meetings of every BCU, content submission opportunities for her newsletter — which she aims to release three times a month — and giving biweekly reports at Senate meetings.
“I want everybody to feel comfortable enough with me that they can use me as support, because that is what I’m here for. A part of my role is to be the support of the association and, you know, to help people out and make sure that their concerns are being heard, to make sure that their voices are being heard,” Broadway said.
A version of this article appeared on p. 1 of the Oct. 3, 2024 edition of the Daily Nexus.
