Photo courtesy of Anthony Martinez
Anthony Martinez (middle) and his friend Jacob Lescenski (left) talk to Ellen DeGeneres on the Ellen Show on April 30, 2015. Martinez is the Speaker Pro Tempore of the ASUN Senate.

The Associated Students of the University of Nevada is the student government here at the university. They organize events and provide resources to help students succeed academically and professionally. The ASUN Senate, the legislative arm of the government organization, is composed of student representatives from each college that advocate on behalf of their peers for resources, funding and other things they want to see done on campus.

However, a low percentage of students know what ASUN is, what it does and who represents them. The Nevada Sagebrush aims to inform students who their senators are and what they are doing in ASUN to help them.

This is Get to Know Your Senator with Speaker Pro Tempore Anthony Martinez.

Anthony Martinez is a senator for the College of Liberal Arts. He is a sophomore studying political science and international affairs. He hopes to become a lawyer to fight for underrepresented communities. Originally from Las Vegas, he came to UNR because of the university’s environment and school spirit.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Nevada Sagebrush: Why did you decide to join ASUN?

Anthony Martinez: I saw that they had a huge voice and impact here. I figured Senate would be the best place to start. I saw that in high school when I worked for Governor Sandoval as the student member of the Nevada State Board of Education. I worked under Elaine Wynn, she was a brilliant leader, and I feel like in ASUN there are so many brilliant leaders.

NS: What do you do for ASUN?

AM: I sit on the Budget and Finance Committee, the Oversight Committee and as speaker pro tempore, I am in charge of the legislative interns. I am not only trying to give them tools to be senators, but I want to give them tools to be service leaders on campus. I want to show them all of the departments of ASUN. I want to build students to not only want to be senators but also maybe club commissioners or programmers or directors possibly. I want them to be able to apply the internship towards other things outside ASUN.

NS: What are your future goals within ASUN?

AM: I want to build a bond between the Residence Hall Association and ASUN. I am encouraging diversity and inclusion in the residence halls and encouraging hall leaders to be active within their communities and students off campus. They have events with good turn out, but it could be better. I want to build that relationship since I haven’t seen that done in the past. I think it’s vital to have two of the largest student organizations work with each other and cooperate with one another.

NS: What is a fun fact about you?

AM: I was on the Ellen show once because my best friend asked me to prom because I am gay and he is straight. It was really fun. I think my favorite part was right after, Adam Levine was there and told us to have an amazing prom. That’s what made me realize that I have a voice to impact people who may not realize their privilege. My friend really inspired me that he opened up his mind to realize that gay individuals are just ordinary people, and I realized that it can translate to people who are transgender, who are bisexual, people of Latin descent. I realized I had a voice to do that and I want to continue to do that because making people realize that we’re all human is amazing.

Contact Senator Martinez at speakerprotempore@asun.unr.edu or visit him during his office hours on Thursdays and Fridays from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.

The ASUN Senate meets every Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. in the Rita Laden Senate Chambers on the third floor of the Joe Crowley Student Union.

Madeline Purdue can be reached at mpurdue@sagebrush.unr and on twitter @madelinepurdue.