Ashley Garcia Torres

Candidate for VP of Diversity, Social Justice

Academic Program/Degree:      Politics and Pre-Law

Current year at Regis:                     Second

Why are you interested in becoming a RUSGA Elected Officer?

I found a lot of difficulty in deciding if I should stay at Regis after my first semester of my freshman year. I felt isolated, overlooked and as though my voice as a person did not matter. I had forgotten what it felt like to be one of if not the only person of color in a classroom, a feeling that I was reminded of upon entering Regis. This institution has made wonderful strides to being more diverse, but I have yet to see a fundamental shift in culture that this establishment so desperately needs. I decided to stay at Regis because I want to ensure that no one else feels the same way I did. I am interested in becoming a RUSGA elected officer because I wholeheartedly believe that I will be able to start the process of not just hearing, but amplifying and giving power to the minority voices within our community.

If elected, what would be your top two priorities to improve the student experience at Regis?

My first priority is implementing implicit bias and cultural competency training for professors and staff. I have heard far too many negative experiences and racialized experiences from students about uneducated staff at Regis. If there are ways in which we can create avenues for understanding, there is no reason in which this institution should not be taking advantage of and utilizing them. My second priority would be to celebrate and honor the many communities that comprise Regis. Amplifying and giving power to voices on campus also means taking time to honor and celebrate the beauty that is to simply be. I have chosen these two topics as my priorities for improving student experience because in my first semester at Regis, I along with several classmates, conducted a survey on racial inequality on campus. Although there are many changes and wants that I heard about, these two priorities have become such because we can improve student experience by first understanding the student experience.

In your opinion, how best can RUSGA serve the students of Regis University?

RUSGA can better serve the students of Regis University by creating more avenues for open communication and dialogue. Oftentimes, conversation times will be catered to students who live on campus. In doing such, we are leaving out commuter students, the students that comprise a great majority of diversity at Regis. If we want to better serve the students, we need to meet them where they are.

What skills and strengths do you possess that will help you to be successful in your position if elected?

I work with organizations that focus on the liberation of all people. This is done specifically through abolition, decolonization, and dismantling of white supremacist structures. Through these positions I have gained experience with community organizing, leading conferences and meetings, and listening to and working with the voices of the oppressed. I have also developed many skills in these spaces that would be applicable to this position. Understanding, reflecting, unlearning, and relearning the systems that oppress us is very important to the work I do. I will be able to use these skills to evaluate the systems that affect the people in the Regis community. This will allow me and others to come to a much deeper understanding, as this work develops with the community which means we will always have to unlearn and relearn with it.

What job related, volunteer, or lived experience do you have that you think has prepared you for, or would transfer well, to this position?

I have been working within activism and community organizing since my sophomore year of high school. I think my work serving my community would transfer well into serving the Regis community. In working as a board director of Stride Community Health Center I have learned to listen and understand the experiences of both staff and patients. As a Policy and Education Researcher, I have learned critical thinking and empathy. What I think will serve my community best, however, is the mindset I have gained in doing this work. The belief “my liberation is tied to your liberation” is one that I wholeheartedly believe in and will serve with.