Story and photo by Collin Berend

Jairo Rodriguez is the current Associated Student Government President for Clackamas Community College. He ran for office again this year and won. Rodriguez is one of few students to serve as president more than once.

Q: What can you tell us about yourself?

A: I am a first generation college student. My parents are immigrants from Mexico. I am the youngest of three and I am the first person to actually pursue a higher education, besides my sister who attended only three terms. I am a hard worker, dedicated and flexible.

Q: How did you get into ASG?

A: What got me into ASG was Ruby Ramirez who was last year’s vice president. At the time when she recommended me to ASG, she wasn’t VP just yet. She lent a hand because she felt she needed more people and we did a project in class together and she thought I did pretty well, so she recommended me to join.

Q: How do you feel you’ll do as president next year?

A: I feel confident. I have one year under my belt, one year of experience and that will help me a lot next year, such as getting all the little things done next year. People tend to go into office with the mentality of “Oh, I’ll do it for a year.” So, I’m lucky that I can serve again as president and “What can I do better?” or “What can I improve on?”

Q: What are your goals as president for next year?

A: I want to see a lot of involvement with the other departments. ASG is in charge of the multicultural department, so I plan on communicating with the art department and to see if we can get more multicultural art around campus. One of my goals is to get the Fireside Lounge decorated with more art work. I think the first place to start is with the students, and to collaborate with students and instructors. I want to make sure we can advertise that we offer grants. We are one of the few in the state of Oregon that offer grants through student government.

Q: If you went to Portland State University, would you run for their student government?

A: I don’t really see myself as a political person. Brent Finkbeiner, who was the president last year, just won presidency at PSU, and one thing he told me earlier this year, because he was considering it since the beginning, was if I should transfer over and help him out. I don’t really see myself as an advocate because when you go over to a university, it’s a bigger deal. A college, like CCC, we try to get students involved. I think universities are more business. How can we get more money, more funding, more capital? So if it came to university, I don’t really see it.