Junior Anthony Ng was elected as the new ASUP president today after a special run-off election. Ng will take office immediately through the end of the spring semester.
Ng won with 311 votes, taking 55.83 percent of the received votes. Bryan Chipman came in behind Ng at 247 votes, 44.34 percent of the received votes.
“I am super excited, almost speechless,” Ng said. “But I think one of the most important things now is seeing what Senate can do for the student body and start being relevant in the students’ eyes again.”
The junior environmental science major said that his two main goals for the next two months are to promote awareness of ASUP and promote sustainability among the UP student body.
Ng said that when he was a freshman senator, he saw ASUP as a strong resource for the student body, but lately it has not been perceived this way.
“What we need to start doing these last two months is start listening to the students again and getting ASUP awareness out there so students know what we’re here for,” Ng said. “A lot of people think ASUP just gives people money and that’s it, but we’re more than that. And if we can just change that mentality, students will think ‘Oh, ASUP is fun.'"
Ng also wants to work on improving communication between administration, Physical Plant and UP students on campus improvements in sustainability.
“The University of Portland is considered one of the greenest schools in the country, but how do students know that?” Ng said. “We see plants getting watered during the day, the compost in The Commons being thrown away because it’s too contaminated. There should be someone else in Waldschmidt whose main focus is sustainability and pushing that agenda forward.”
Although Ng is excited about creating change in his short term as president, the junior is unsure about running for re-election next year.
With the application date for next year’s presidency less than two weeks away (Feb. 29), the newly elected president said he may not have enough time to get a feel for the position to determine whether he is interested in running again.
However, Ng believes that despite having a particularly short term as president, improving Senate and making real change in UP’s student body won’t be as difficult as it sounds.
“I think I would just have to work harder, and that’s how I always work. I never give up,” Ng said. “If everyone can just work together as a team and we can facilitate stronger discussions about things that we care about, then we can accomplish anything.”
Rachel Rippetoe is a reporter for The Beacon. She can be reached at rippetoe18@up.edu.
