Meet your CHaSS senator: Celeste Rodriguez

Celeste Rodriguez frequently spends her Tuesday nights skating at SK80’s Night and is also a self-proclaimed foodie who likes T.V. shows more than movies. Most importantly, she loves dogs. 

Although Rodriguez has always been involved in Utah State activities, her path to the office was an unexpected but happy surprise.

“I never saw myself here,” Rodriguez said. “I joined CHaSS council this year, so in the fall of 2020, and Olivia was talking to me and she planted the seed and I just grew it from there.”

Chass Senator Olivia Hoge worked with Rodriguez this year on the CHaSS council and is confident that Rodriguez will work hard to make next year great. Most importantly, Hoge said that it is evident Rodriguez cares about CHaSS. She already has a reputation for working hard to make USU a better, more inclusive place.

“Celeste actually served on my council this year. She was the events director so I had the opportunity to work with her a lot. She put in way more time than other people did and really, really cared about the students,” Hoge said. “She has a lot of good ideas about including all different types of students from all walks of life.”

One of Rodriguez’s main goals as the CHaSS Senator is to finish up the legislation for diversity and ally training.

“I’ve worked a lot with Senator Hodge who is the Current CHaSS Senator,” Rodriguez said. “I am going to finish out her legislation for requiring diversity and ally training for all staff.”

The process takes about 18 months and she is excited to be able to see it through to the end.

Rodriguez claims Colorado as her home state but she grew up all over the country. She has lived in Washington, Pennsylvania, Oregon and now Utah. She believes that living all over, and especially out-of-state, makes her more prepared to lead and serve the students at USU. 

“Being an out-of-state student has helped me a lot,” Rodriguez said. “I think that has allowed me to kind of see Utah State from an outsider’s perspective.” 

She is confident that her unique life experience will enable her to affect change.

“My experience is a little bit more unique compared to others in USUSA so I am able to kind of bring that fresh outlook and change what I think needs to be changed.” 

Rodriguez’s favorite part of being an Aggie is the strong sense of community that is cultivated on campus. She loves the support she feels from her fellow Aggies and wants to ensure that everyone on campus feels the same support. 

“I love the environment that Utah State has,” Rodriguez said. “As soon as I walk onto campus, you can feel the support. I know that I could go to anyone in the middle of campus and ask them for help and they would drop everything. Everyone is here to support each other.” 

She plans to work with clubs on campus to include them in more CHaSS events and use resources like the Liberalis to promote them. This way everyone can easily find a place in the Aggie community. 

“We want to include a lot more clubs in CHaSS events,” Rodriguez said. “We want to use our resources like the Liberalis and social media to promote CHaSS clubs and organizations.”

Rodriguez’s friend and roommate Abby Edward is confident her personality makes her a great fit for the position.

“Celeste is such a hard worker and really cares about CHaSS,” Edward said. She makes everyone she meets feel important and welcome. She is a fantastic leader and is always willing to listen to what people have to say.”

Rodriguez is very excited to listen and learn from her fellow Aggies. She is looking forward to rewriting the constitution to include all of the campuses statewide.

“I am really excited to see the change that comes with including all statewide campuses,” Rodriguez said. “I am really excited to hear their perspective and see what comes of it.” 

That is definitely something Rodriguez wants to prioritize — listening to everyone in order to make USU a better, more inclusive school.

Photo by Joseph Myers.

Addy Kirkham is a senior studying English with an emphasis in literary analysis. She enjoys reading, running, and mountain biking.

addy.kirkham@usu.edu