Miles Robinson, current candidate for speaker of the Associated Students of Colorado State University senate, holds CSU’s student government in high regard.
“This is probably a strong statement to make, but I truly believe that ASCSU is the strongest student government on Earth,” Robinson said. “I cannot name one other institution with as much structure and as much autonomy as ASCSU does.”
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Robinson is a sophomore political science student from Colorado Springs and a current member of the ASCSU senate. In addition to holding this position for over a year, Robinson works as a resident assistant for Summit Hall and was a member of the President’s Multicultural Student Advisory Committee.
“We have to look in the face of adversity and understand that we have an enormous potential to climb that mountain, and that’s really what the campaign stands for … changing the narrative of what this past year has been.”-Miles Robinson, speaker of the senate candidate
Running a campaign with a focus on maintaining hope for the future and taking action to achieve it, Robinson sees the hardships of the last year as potential for change.
“We have to look in the face of adversity and understand that we have an enormous potential to climb that mountain, and that’s really what the campaign stands for … changing the narrative of what this past year has been,” Robinson said. “It’s about creating that change, creating hope.”
Among the goals Robinson hopes to accomplish if elected as speaker is the promotion of ASCSU. He said he wants to ensure that each student has an equal opportunity to get involved in the various clubs and organizations on campus and create an “inclusive, accessible and safe space for all students to engage in.”
He hopes to work with groups such as the Residence Hall Association to promote ASCSU during Ram Welcome and orientation events with the goal of reaching incoming freshmen and increasing awareness of ASCSU.
During his tenure as a senator for the Student Disability Center, Robinson has drafted and passed a resolution to create a universal captioning system for online classes and recorded lectures. He is also currently working on securing upgrades for all Americans with Disabilities Act buttons on campus to ensure and expand accessibility.
Robinson said that members of the disabled community are often overlooked when it comes to projects and initiatives — something he has been working to address.
“I don’t think it’s about knowing every single rule about parliamentary procedure,” Robinson said. “It’s about having the will and the drive to create change and to make initiatives that are going to benefit the large majority of students.”
Robinson recognized current speaker Christian Dykson for his success in running the senate despite the challenges of an online format and hopes to expand his platform in order to continue creating change on campus.
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He also intends to maintain and expand the “outreach hours” requirement for senators in order to promote engagement with constituents.
“We want senators to be held accountable for the work that they do,” he said.
If elected, Robinson hopes to create an “ASCSU liaison” position within each of the clubs and student groups on campus. Those in this position would serve as a “direct link” to ASCSU, and would be responsible for contacting and collaborating with ASCSU members when their organization works with the student government.
Further, Robinson intends to address issues of systemic racism on campus in order to create a safer space for all students by collaborating with groups such as the Office of Equal Opportunity to ensure that ASCSU is a welcoming place for every student.
Robinson said that he is not going to sit around and wait for someone to implement the changes he wants to see. He stressed the importance of voting as a member of the student body, which he sees as a critical step on the way to creating change.
“I know what I want to see out of this campus, and I know the things that can be changed,” Robinson said. “Nothing is going to fundamentally change unless we make our voices heard, unless we go out and vote.”
Natalie Weiland can be reached at news@collegian.com or on Twitter @natgweiland.
