ASU, like the rest of the state, has long been associated with conservative leanings.
A new alliance of 16 student organizations hopes to change that.
Progressive Alliance, a student organization started by Fabricio Rodriguez of the Young Democratic Socialists last spring, hopes to bring more diversity to student government and create a stronger, more unified liberal presence on campus.
"[The Alliance] wants to help add two sides to campus rather than having campus dominated by one ideology," said Laura Bunting, president of the ASU chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union.
Last year student conservative activists staged a series of conservative events, ranging from right-wing lectures by David Horowitz and Reginald Jones to the publication of a far-right newspaper, the Collegiate Conservative.
Many progressive ASU student organizations decided to unite together and develop a group to express liberal points on the political spectrum, Bunting said.
The groups participating in the Alliance, which include the Muslim Student Association and ASU for Israel, represent the diversity of ASU's student population though do not all embody a political position, said Muslim association President Hassan Al Refae.
"[The Muslim Student Association] is not a political organization, we joined the Alliance because it's very diverse and it supports minority involvement," Al Refae said.
A major strength of the Alliance is that it's not necessarily confined to a single political paradigm, Bunting said.
"Our label 'progressive' means change. We have groups from many different political beliefs that have come together for the purpose of making ASU a better academic environment," she said.
Bunting added that the alliance isn't in opposition to any of the prominent conservative organizations at ASU, but that in order to maximize the academic integrity of the ASU experience, there needs to be more diversity of ideas.
"College is a time in life when new different ideas should be out in the open for everyone," Bunting said.
Young Democrats Vice President Ruben Alonzo said the organization has been able to attract many different groups because of the general nature of its purpose.
"So many different groups are coming together that it would be impossible to define the alliance under any one political idea," Alonzo said.
According to the members of the Alliance, one of the primary outlets for change should be the student government.
"Student government affects all students and we want to get involved," Al Refae said.
With the Associated Students of ASU controlling over $22,000 for student programming, many members of the Alliance said the money isn't being utilized to it's full potential.
"Right now we have a student government that is not the most efficient group of students," Bunting said. "They're not trying to reach out or meet the needs of the overall student population."
ASASU Activities Vice President Shanna Bowman said there are a lot of ASASU services that meet the needs of the student population.
"We try to get as much money out of ASASU and into the student body as possible," Bowman said.
Alliance member and ecology senior Jeanine Divis said ASASU is not an ideal depiction of the student body that they're responsible for representing.
"With over half of the student government representing Greek Life, we want to see a more diverse group students involved in ASASU," Divis said.
The alliance has plans to compile a slate of candidates to run for various ASASU positions this spring semester, all aligned under the progressive title.
Bunting added that under the one umbrella group, many smaller student organizations would have the opportunity to get involved in a student government that has been long dominated by more established groups, like the Greek system.
"We slowly want to change the face of ASU," Bunting said.
Reach reporter at matthew.garcia3@asu.edu.
