Investing in students: New ASPSU President Kierra Wing reprioritizes student government

Like many students at Portland State, Kierra Wing is the first person in her immediate family to go to college. Originally from Las Vegas, Wing followed in the footsteps of a distant cousin who attended PSU and went on to build generators for General Electric.

“My grandma was really into education, so she would be so proud,” Wing said. “She was a teacher, but she couldn’t earn a master’s degree. At the time women’s options were super limited.” Wing will graduate this spring with a master’s degree in Real Estate Development, after earning bachelor’s degrees in human resource management and business management. 

Wing is also the Associated Students of Portland State University’s new president.

Before being elected as president, Wing served as the Student Fee Committee chair, tasked with recommending how student fees are allocated by ASPSU. The entire student government process — particularly the fee committee — can get overwhelming, Wing said. That’s one of the reasons she advocated to restructure ASPSU, as well as attempting to reduce burnout and make the governing process a little simpler.

“I think it can get really overwhelming for people because there's not a lot of structure,” she said. “So we restructured the organization completely.”

Starting next year, the number of committees will be reduced from eight to five, from 16 senators to 10, and everyone’s pay will increase by $100.

“We're hoping that we can use this restructure to actually be more centralized and that it will bring more stability,” she said. 

Despite reducing the overall number of committees, ASPSU will refocus and add new committees focused on inclusion and access, global community and student health, life and success.

Another change already in place was the decision to leave the Oregon Student Association, a nonprofit group that lobbies on behalf of students. That decision leaves ASPSU with an excess of dues paid by students this year — an excess Wing wants to give back to students by way of programming, basic need vouchers, gift cards to the bookstore and other forms of assistance.

Wing is also driven to build out resource-finding materials to better help students find services and resources and learn how to access them. Designing these materials also needs to account for students who are online-only versus in-person students. 

Also topping Wing’s list of priorities? Prom. ASPSU hosted prom for the first time in 2022 and demand was larger than anyone expected. Wing said this year they want to make it even bigger, more inclusive and safe for everyone to attend.

Resources and prom aside, Wing wants students to know ASPSU is available to help with anything they might need. 

“We are invested in making sure that you're happy and having an enjoyable and equitable experience at PSU,” she said. “We want to make sure your financial needs are met, what about your social needs? Or your academic needs? There's a lot of ways that you can feel unfulfilled, but we’re here to help. Our whole role here is to make sure you're happy.”