Campus junior William Sutton is running for ASUC Senate with the Elevate Cal coalition.
Sutton’s platforms include expanding resources available to transfer students, establishing ways to support student veterans and increasing representation for low-income minorities on campus.
Sutton, a computer science major, said he was initially inspired to run for ASUC senator after serving as a senator at Berkeley City College’s representative student government. He added that he has also been involved in multiple organizations on campus, and has acted as representatives for the Residential Hall Assembly and Center for Middle Eastern Studies.
As a transfer student himself, Sutton intends to work closely with transfer students on campus by providing resources that are only available to incoming freshmen. Specifically, Sutton said he hopes to work with the Transfer Student Center to see where the ASUC can support and provide resources for housing.
“It has been a really big deal coming in as a transfer student,” Sutton said. “I can improve a lot in at least our part of the campus.”
Sutton also said he hopes to provide support to student veterans. As a veteran himself, transitioning between military life and civilian life is a complicated and massive transition, he said. By working closely with the Cal Veteran Services Center, he hopes to introduce more counseling and resources for veterans on campus.
Sutton said he will also be supporting low-income, underrepresented minority students on campus. He anticipates connecting with organizations representing minority groups on campus and developing ways that the ASUC can support these groups.
“I think it’s really critical to have the student government aware of our issues and see what we can bring to the table to help faculty and staff and administration and increase the supportive resources for these three communities,” Sutton said.
Sutton said funding is one of the biggest issues the ASUC has been facing. Once elected, he can more closely learn what the ASUC’s function and role are on campus, Sutton said. He also hopes to connect with various campus organizations to determine what policies need to be implemented.
If elected, Sutton says it will be important to bring ideas to the ASUC. However, he would like to spend his first term learning and listening to the community to see if his ideas can be successfully implemented and make a long-lasting impact on campus.
“Should I be fortunate enough to be elected, I will go there and learn how ASUC functions on campus, what our role is and connect with the various organizations on campus,” Sutton said.
