By Molecule Jongwilai

Growing up traveling and participating in various communities, Reese Artero learned about different languages, religions and cultures, with her parents trying to immerse her in individual ways of life as someone coming from Guam. These experiences motivated her interest in advocacy work as a way to understand and embrace people with different perspectives.

Artero, the current SGA student body president, touched on her journey from being an intern at the Office of Guam’s Attorney General to her role on campus at the University of Maryland, including her work thus far and what she hopes to leave behind for the campus community after graduating.

“I always have to be moving. Always have to be doing something, and why not something that can be beneficial for the campus?” Artero said. 

Born and raised Chamorro, the Indigenous ethnicity in Guam, Artero found her passion for civil rights and criminal justice while working as an intern with Leevin Camacho, the Attorney General of Guam. Artero described Camacho as her “biggest role model.” 

She appreciated Camacho’s interests centering on land acknowledgment, which helped to either repair or return lands to many Indigenous communities on Guam.   

Artero also worked on internet fraud and grand jury indictment law which inspired her as a career path that she could see herself pursuing in the future.

After completing high school, Artero came to UMD to pursue her degree in criminology and criminal justice as a Banneker Key Merit Scholarship recipient. Her interest in advocacy work helped her to become involved in numerous policy-related organizations including the Resident Hall Association, the University of Maryland Police Department Student Advisory Board, and SGA.  

“I feel like contributing to the campus and leaving a legacy of something that can help students even well after me, is something that I have a really, really deep appreciation for, …you could definitely have a great time while you’re here in college, and you could also have an impactful time and leave knowing that you did something,” Artero said.    

In her sophomore year at SGA, Artero served as an undergraduate studies representative where she got the opportunity to work with many committees and people across campus. She also served as the organization’s recruitment and retention coordinator, which allowed her to meet new legislators and offer mentorship by guiding them through their projects. 

SGA Executive Vice President Gannon Sprinkle, a junior government and politics major, was Artero’s running mate in her race for student body president in 2024.  He explained that he was first introduced to Artero when he joined SGA in the fall 2022 semester.

“She was very early in that experience, very efficient and productive in her capacities…and it’s very clear how that has continued over the last two years as well,” Sprinkle said.        

In 2023, Artero was appointed as a director of the sexual misconduct prevention committee by Alexandra DeBus, the SGA’s student body president at that time. However, because of the limited authority, she could not work on other projects she felt interested in.   

Artero explained that as a director, “…your sole focus is the one topic area that you’re in. I just couldn’t do it. I wanted to do a hundred different things, and I couldn’t do that in my role. So I changed to be back in the legislature,” she said. 

After serving as committee director over the summer, Artero went back to the legislature in her third year and served as an off-campus neighboring representative before deciding to run for SGA’s student body president in the spring 2024 semester. 

Artero, representing the Reimagine Maryland party, won against her opponent Ian Gould from Uplift UMD with 41% to 38% of voters, according to the official result from the SGA Election System.

This fall semester, Artero and the rest of SGA have worked on several different projects to improve students’ experiences on campus. 

She explained that the committee attempted to expand the sustainability fee to graduate students, as it is only paid by undergraduates currently.  This funding went to numerous projects related to improving campus sustainability.  

Artero also worked toward incorporating a campus pantry that provides food under this funding, aiming to cope with food insecurity among students. Additionally, Artero and SGA assisted the LGBTQ+ Equity Center to provide free gender-affirming care products for students.

“This is a really big step towards giving them the opportunity to feel like they belong at UMD campus, and also to just feel good about themselves,” she added.     

While accomplishing different tasks throughout the semester, Artero wanted to emphasize the importance of student engagement and transparency in SGA and on campus. 

Differing from previous years, she, along with SGA administrations, attempted a “bottom-up approach,” which focused on including departments on campus in SGA’s conversations to help enhance students’ experiences.

“That was really successful this year, and I’m hoping…that’s something that continues in the next couple years as well,” Artero said. 

Sprinkle explained that he and Artero had to work with their executive cabinet consisting of 12 different committees with 12 to 15 directors, throughout the week by helping them further several initiatives.  

“She is incredibly organized, efficient, proactive. She’s a planner, which is a good role or a good skill to have in a leader, to be proficient, to be organized. She’s great at managing lots of different projects,” Sprinkle said. 

Michael Glowacki, Chief of Staff and Assistant to the Vice President of the Division of Student Affairs, said his departments had been working closely with the SGA this year on students’ essential needs.

“She takes that responsibility very seriously. … She’s smart. She’s open-minded and just so hard-working,” Glowacki said.

Artero emphasized how she always appreciates her role as a platform to navigate and understand people who came from different backgrounds and experiences. 

“I think that’s one thing that my parents instilled in me with traveling and other things, is that your perspective is never the only perspective and that you owe it to yourself and you owe to everyone around you to consider those perspectives in their totality and understand that everyone has a piece of the puzzle, and you are responsible for putting that together and making it cohesive,” Artero said.

Featured Images: Reese Artero. Photo by the Student Government Association.

Artero speaks at the SGA general body meeting at Adele H. Stamp Student Union on Nov. 20, 2024. Photo by Molecule Jongwilai