Countless leaders across the University campus have experienced the positive benefits of the Oregon Student Association’s (OSA) ASUO internship class. From building coalitions to run on-campus campaigns to making class announcements to register students to vote, the OSA internship program provides students with invaluable skills and resources they need as leaders. The OSA internship class provides a space for students to learn about the ASUO and the resources and programs available to them on campus. The OSA Campus Organizer, who is directly supervised by the ASUO, leads the internship program and uses an approved curriculum that is accessible to every student, no matter their background or their views.
Every ASUO president can benefit from the presence of the OSA internship program, no matter what their political beliefs are; the internship program is about leadership development for all students. The program provides a gateway for any interested student to connect with the ASUO, a gateway that is totally unattached to the politics of the ASUO. It is the core mission of the internship program to support the work of the ASUO and to engage students from all walks of campus life in opportunities to make positive change on campus. It is up to the leaders of the ASUO and the interns themselves to decide what that means, and the OSA Campus Organizer facilitates learning under all circumstances.
One example of the internship program’s success is the nationally recognized voter registration drive that the ASUO just completed. In just three-and-a-half weeks, the ASUO registered 2,665 students to vote. State-wide, OSA registered 14,511 students to vote. Now that is news to write about….
Molly Bennison
Former OSA Intern
Emily McLain
OSA Executive Director