Associated Student Government (ASG) President Beau Flores won election last year while telling Colorado Mesa University (CMU) students he would stand for them. With the new election season in full swing, Flores has answered appeals from students to keep standing for them. Now there’s a tall figure standing beside him: Angel Bautista.
Current ASG Vice President Jeff Vela graduates in May, thus can’t help Flores build on his legacy next year. The Pacific Islander president did not have to look hard to find an ideal running make to replace Vela.
Standing a full head taller than most around him, Bautista also figuratively towers above his peers. The first-generation minority track and field star has nearly a decade of community outreach experience. That experience can aid Flores in his goal to further enhance the relationship between CMU and the Grand Junction community.
As a product from Grand Junction High School, Bautista understands the need to reach out to local schools. “I saw a disconnect, growing up here in town, between the community and the university. And now that I’ve been a part of both pools, I feel like I could be the bridge between the community and CMU,” Bautista said.
“Growing up as a kid and in high school, there was a lot of stigma about CMU that I learned to be false. I wanted to pass on that knowledge to students that are in high school or middle school to know that Colorado Mesa University is the best school in Colorado,” Bautista said. “We want to retain the youth and the knowledge of Grand Junction because that’s the only way we can make the community better.”
The junior business major already knows how to interact with the community. “I’m very involved in the community through mentoring and coaching for football and lacrosse. I’ve been involved for the past eight years and I’ve been head coach for two years now,” Bautista said.
Bautista is no stranger to adversity. As a first-generation college student, he is also the first in his family to graduate high school. Statistically, such students face greater difficulty in college than others, but he doesn’t allow statistics to determine his destiny. Not only does he forge his own path to success, but Bautista also hopes to serve as an example to others.
“It only takes one person to get the ball rolling for a generational success and I wanted to show that just because you have adversity in your life doesn’t mean you can’t be successful,” Bautista said.
Like his running mate, Flores maintains a large presence on campus and has engaged in community outreach. Widely known and quick with a smile for his fellow Mavs, he listened to their voices and decided to heed their calls for more.
“Ultimately what led me to run again was pretty much the support that I saw from other students,” Flores said. “They were speaking to me and they liked the things that were done under the Flores-Vela administration so I thought to myself ‘well why not continue that? Why not give them what they want? Why not give them more than what we’ve been giving them before?’ So I just wanted to continue the legacy that I hope to leave behind.”
In spite of his many accomplishments during his first year as president, Flores humbly rejects the idea that he is superior to anybody. He isn’t running because he thinks he’s better than his opponent; he just wants to keep standing for CMU students.
“I don’t like to think that I’m the best in anything, but I do think that I’ve been here before and Angel brings a huge sense of community to this administration, so I think experience plays a tremendous role in this,” Flores said. “This year we’ve done a lot. I would urge [students] to go and look into what ASG has done and know that alongside Angel, we’ll do a whole lot more.”
Together, the two minority first-generation students hope to win the approval of their fellow Mavs and forge an unbreakable bond between CMU and the Grand Junction community.
Flores said anybody with questions is welcome to come see him in his office inside Student Life.
