Cristian Cisneros Hernandez and Rishika Tyagi are running for vice president of business and finance in the 2024 Associated Students general election. To read more about each candidate, see below.

Cristian Cisneros Hernandez

Cristian Cisneros Hernandez is running for the vice president of business and finance, and is ready to make a difference at Chico State. 

Hernandez is a fourth-year business administration major with an emphasis in marketing and a minor in communication. Hernandez is actively involved in  the sales program as well.

“It’s a position that really interested me.” Hernandez said, “I really want to practice ethical thinking and being able to give each college the money that they deserve.”

If elected, Hernandez hopes to bring equality to the seven colleges at Chico State and is going to use his position to advocate for others around campus who don’t have a voice.

Finance has always been a strong suit of Hernandez as he handles the finances of his fraternity, Lambda Theta Phi Latino Fraternity. The Association of Latino Professionals for America is a club chartered by Hernandez, and is one of the largest clubs for Latinos in business. 

“Being a Latino on campus you don’t see much representation within the College of Business,” Hernandez said. “I feel like it really opened up a lot of doors and created a safe space for other Latino students in business.”

The VP position comes with many obstacles, explained Hernandez, but he is looking forward to enduring the struggles that come with the position.

“What I am most excited about is to be challenged and put in positions where I struggle,” Hernandez said. “But also to be able to overcome them and be able to grow, not only as an individual, but a professional as well.”

Joining Greek life was one of the more surprising times in Hernandez’s life. Going through high school, Hernandez grew a negative association with Greek life, however, that all changed once he got to Chico State.

“I got to meet the Multicultural Greek Council, and my fraternity, and it’s truly more academic based than anything,”  Hernandez said.

Hernandez and Lambda Theta Phi put forth their best efforts to give back to the community of Chico whenever they can. 

Come Easter, the fraternity is hosting an Easter egg event where they use their personal funds to put on an event for local youth. The event includes an Easter egg hunt, free food and more.

“We’re not looking to make profit, but we do hope to give back to the community and also be able to hold ourselves to a high academic standard,” Hernandez said.

For information on Hernandez and his campaign, go to his Instagram page or go here.

Rishika Tyagi

Rishika Tyagi is a junior studying business information systems,  running for vice president of business and finance in the upcoming 2024 Associated Students general election. 

Coming from Delhi, India, she was eager to participate in campus life and make her mark. As one of her bosses explained, “Students who are more involved and engaged on campus usually do really well academically.”

Starting as a resident advisor, then working for the international office, she learned about the diversity of opportunities, resources and jobs for students on campus to take advantage of. 

Tyagi also took up several leadership responsibilities during her presidency of the Indian Student Association, and has developed multiple projects including the Global Sisters Empowerment program, as well as two others in development, one that helps asylum-seeking and refuge students and another that helps Asian students.

Always a busy entrepreneur,  she started a resin jewelry business with her father, making $3,000 in the first three months. In India, students are taught from a young age about financial literacy, so she was shocked by how unaware Americans are about finances. 

From her perspective it is shocking how Americans graduate high school and enter the workforce and are forced to learn how to manage their financial responsibilities often from trial and error. Students don’t learn that the amount of money they owe in taxes is not told to them and if they pay too little they can get sent to jail. 

Hoping to start more workshops and events relating to financial literacy, she hopes that she can rectify the errors made in many American schools as students should not have to pay for a skill they should have learned a long time ago. 

Tyagi hopes to support cultural organizations to make sure that every group on campus is being represented. She also plans to support other business organizations like Phi Gamma Theta, Delta Sigma Pi, and the Association for Women in Business. 

“All those like programs… have… a lot of potential and the students here but.. my experiences with business students, and I feel like they have a lot of potential and talent. And if we can connect them to better resources and like we can support those organizations financially, we can help them…participate in competitions out of state and do…bigger things and that would also be beneficial for Chico State.” Rishika explains.

Rishika believes just as faculty and student government has a duty to reach out to students, students must reach out to them to make the best experience at Chico possible and is concerned by a lack of willingness of students to do so. 

“They’re not responsive and that really .… breaks my heart because I know what Chico State gave to me, what it .… means to me, and I really wish that every student who enrolls at Chico State is able to do the same. Like utilize all the amazing resources on campus,” Tyagi said.

Tyagi has many visions that her unique perspective as a businesswoman, international student, and leader bring to the surface. But most importantly she hopes to repay the school for their quality education, services, and the confidence of its faculty in her success.

For more information on Tyagi and her campaign, go to her Instagram page or go here.

To learn more about the vice president of business and finance duties, go here.

Voting for the 2024 AS general elections will open on April 4 at 8 a.m. and will close on April 5 at 8 a.m.

A link will be sent out to all Chico State students via school emails when voting opens.

Lukas Mann and Ari Sorokin can be reached at [email protected].

Correction: the article previously stated this: “… worked with the Global Sisters Empowerment program which seeks to assist asylum seekers from Asia,” but has been changed to reflect that the Global Sisters Empowerment program does not seek to help asylum seekers from Asia.