Name: Latrel Powell
Position: vice president of external relations
Year: junior
Major: Political Science/Africana Studies
Why do you want to run for vice president of external relations?
I wasn’t introduced into Associated Students until October — the College of Arts and Letters had a vacancy for the president of the student council position, and I was fortunate and able enough to go to that and take advantage of that opportunity, and give my speech and kind of dive head first into leadership. My position as president of the College of Arts and Letters has been such a great experience thus far. I’ve learned a lot and I’ve been exposed to a lot that I never anticipated. It kind of gave me a taste of student leadership here on campus and how student government goes, and for that reason I really saw the potential for me to actuate the change that I want to see on campus through this position.
What makes you qualified for this position?
So, vice president of external relations, in a nutshell, is honestly a very political position and I know that the entire campaign is a very political process, but for this position in particular, we do things like advocating on behalf of the student body with California State Legislature, we do pretty much everything that pertains to SDSU outside of the borders of the campus. (…) I really wanted to take advantage of that opportunity, because for myself, I’m really interested in public policy.
What would you like to change at SDSU?
There’s a few things. I think the diversity that we have here is beautiful, and it’s great, but unfortunately I don’t think that there’s enough opportunity for the student leaders here to feel like they have a streamlined access to community members in the broader San Diego community.
What would you like to stay the same at SDSU?
With changing demographics of SDSU, with the new appointment of President (Adela) de la Torre, I think that we’ve shown that we can kind of adopt certain kids — whether they come from international, where they come from across the country or whether they come from San Diego. SDSU can adopt kids and really take up a mantra that ‘leadership starts here,’ so I definitely want to continue to emphasize that, and I definitely want to continue to provide a platform for leaders to take up these positions, to develop, to mature, to grow.
Interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.
