By Annette Quijada
The East Los Angeles College Student Activities office looks to reconnect students on campus and bring back a sense of community that campus life has lacked in the past two years.
Student Activities assistant Carlos Guerrero and Associated Student President Steven Gallegos held an informational session to get students involved on campus.
Student Activities focus on the student life outside of the classrooms.
They provide students with: information on joining clubs, club chartering, promoting campus events, housing Associated Student Union scholarships and commencement information or planning.
“ASU government works towards advocating for the needs of the student body at the college district and state level,” Gallegos said.
They also keep students up to date on future events. Students can join ASU by paying a $7 fee each semester, or $3 for summer/winter session. “Money [paid]goes right back to the students with benefits such as giveaways, scholarships, events, etc. The payback to yourself is far much greater,” Gallegos said.
“Our goal for this year is reconnection. We are coming back from two years that were pretty much stagnant.
We really didn’t see much life on campus, so we want to make sure to build that reconnection with students and have students reconnect with college life,” Gallegos said.
A current popular pop up for students is the Husky Snack Shack hosted by ASU. Students don’t have to be ASU members. The only requirement is to be enrolled in ELAC and to show proof of enrollment. “You can come once a day and get three items, one large item, one small item and a drink.” Their hours are Monday-Thursday from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
An upcoming resource for students is the Basic Needs Center. The center is currently still in construction, but it will help provide essentials to students such as shelter and food. If there are students who need basic items, they can reach out to the Basic Needs Coordinator Jessica Olivas.She can help connect students to resources. “If you need emergency services right now, students can head to the health center and let them know about their need for food or shelter security. The health center will connect students with Olivas,” Guerrero said.
Students can also look forward to the center bringing more help onto campus. “Basic Needs is working to finalize their contract with the LA Food Bank to bring it onto campus,” Gallegos said.
If students are looking to get involved with campus life, ASU currently has open positions and encourages students to email ASUPRES@ELAC.EDU for more information.