Northwestern’s Associated Student Government is working to strengthen its connection with the student body. The organization’s newly elected executive board has made increasing visibility and engagement a central goal for the year, aiming to make student government more accessible and responsive to the broader campus community, said Weinberg senior and Speaker of the Senate Kaitlyn Salgado-Alvarez.

One of ASG’s main priorities this year is improving visibility and approachability, Weinberg junior and co-executive officer for student affairs Mariam Fofana said. She added that the board wants to “humanize ASG” and help students see their representatives as peers rather than faceless administrators.

Fofana said ASG plans to increase student engagement via casual meet-and-greet events, more direct communication with student organizations and active collaboration with other campus offices.

Part of the push for visibility has already been implemented with a comprehensive rebranding, Fofana said. The communications team recently launched a new organizational color scheme and began redesigning its website to make it easier for students to get legislative updates and find contact information.

Salgado-Alvarez said her goal is to make ASG a familiar name for students who may not have followed or known about student government before.

Beyond rebranding, the executive board wants to offer more opportunities for students to share concerns and influence policy, according to Weinberg sophomore and Deputy Speaker of the Senate Rayan Lahlou-Nabil. 

Lahlou-Nabil said that ASG wants to remind students that legislative action is not limited to senators: any member of the NU community can write legislation and initiate institutional change. 

Weinberg junior Catherine Ndovu, co-executive officer for Justice and Inclusion, said her committee is focusing on initiatives that make NU more equitable. One of the committee’s biggest initiatives this year, she said, is to establish a “legal clinic” for undergraduates to receive guidance on topics from off-campus housing to workers’ rights.

ASG is responsible for allocating funding to nearly all student groups on campus. Every undergraduate pays a $95 student activities fee, and the Student Activities Finance Committee then distributes the money — about $2.7 million annually — among hundreds of organizations. 

“Odds are, if you are engaged in a student group on this campus, it is receiving significant amounts of funding from us,” Medill junior and Student Activities Finance Council Co-chair John Sisco said.

Weinberg junior and Student Finance Council Co-chair Gauri Adarsh said the committee uses a detailed set of standards to determine which funding requests are appropriate. It also conducts regular analyses of its funding decisions to maintain transparency and accountability.

For students, this funding provides continued access to the wide range of cultural, academic and service events that define campus life.

Parliamentarian and Chief Justice JJ Nabors-Moore, a SESP sophomore, said he is overseeing constitutional revisions to improve the internal structure of ASG itself.

“My goal is to really make sure that our constitution and code are functioning the best that it can, and making sure that it allows for our government to effectively work at its most optimal state,” Nabors-Moore said.

Meanwhile, the Internal Affairs Committee, led by Co-Executive Officer Asha Navaratnasingam, a Weinberg Junior, focuses on building cohesion within ASG. Navaratnasingam said the committee manages training sessions, bonding events and inter-committee communication, helping new members adjust and ensuring the organization runs smoothly. 

A stronger internal foundation, Navaratnasingam said, enables ASG to better serve the wider student community.

Lahlou-Nabil said the organization’s mission is to show students that their voices can lead to real change. Even students who never attend a Senate meeting, he said, are affected by the policies ASG passes and the funding it allocates.

Ndovu said she encourages students to engage with ASG.

“If students have any recommendations, ideas, programs … I would say ASG Senate, or any of the ASG committees, are great places to reach out to,” Ndovu said. 

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