Friday Focus: Why students go to Juneau

Feb. 20, 2026

— By Jackson Nelson, ASUAF Student Government president

My friend Cutter’s truck flew down University Avenue with the hood practically bowed from the mountain of pallets we’d stacked in the back. My friend Sydney and I were wedged in the cab, laughing and trying to keep count of how many trips we’d made that day. For three straight weekends, a rotating crew of students drove all over Fairbanks, scavenging wood for Starvation Gulch. Our advisor, Eleanor Guthrie, graciously offered up her yard as an unofficial storage depot, and before long, her driveway became the hub of our constant pallet runs.

When the weekend finally arrived, we built a towering polar bear bonfire, which we proudly titled the Flaming Nook. Once it was lit, the night felt effortless and electric.

Standing there, though, watching the flames, I kept thinking about everything people couldn’t see. Most of the crowd saw a finished bonfire and a good time. They didn’t see the hours of hauling, organizing, and quiet coordination that made it possible. And in a strange way, that hidden work is a small reflection of ASUAF Student Government history. 

For 103 years, ASUAF has been doing work that most people never fully see. Unlike Starvation Gulch, which burns bright and is gone by morning, the work of student government is meant to last. ASUAF has stood alongside traditions like Starvation Gulch from its inception, but our impact runs far deeper than campus events. Students advocated for and helped establish core parts of UAF that thousands rely on today: Student Support Services, Rural Student Services, the Student Recreation Center and the Wood Center. Those didn’t appear overnight. They exist because students believed the university could be better and were willing to organize, argue and persist until that belief turned into something permanent. We’re the current stewards of that effort. This Friday, we take that responsibility on the road, trading our work gloves for suits as we head to Juneau. 

As Student Government heads down to Juneau, we’re stepping into one of our most important roles: representing this university and its students directly to the people who make decisions for our state. I’ll be traveling with Bonnie Brennan, our Senate Chair, and Brynn Illingworth, our External Affairs Chair, and together we’ll sit down face-to-face with legislators.

In Juneau, it’s easy for UAF to get flattened into a line item or a decimal point. Legislators move through budgets all day, so our job is to pause that for a moment and put real faces and stories behind those numbers. We’re there to make the student experience visible.

There’s something powerful about students walking into those rooms and speaking for themselves. We go in knowing the budget debates are messy and that the state’s priorities don’t always line up neatly with ours, especially this year. It’s easy to feel small in a building like that. But that’s exactly why we go. Behind every budget line and policy conversation are real students trying to build their futures at this university, and our responsibility is to keep those lives front and center.

If you want to be part of that work, nominations to join ASUAF Student Government are open through February 28. If you are interested in serving on the Senate next year, now is the time to get on the ballot.

Students, faculty and staff are also welcome at our weekly Senate meetings at 5:30 pm on Tuesdays. Attending, listening, and speaking during public comment are simple ways to stay involved and voice concerns.

Friday Focus is a column written by a different member of UAF's leadership team every week. On occasion, a guest writer is invited to contribute a column.