Nilda Brooklyn is a sophomore women’s studies major. Her running mate, Joy Nair, is a sophomore business major.
Q: What is your platform?
A: We have chosen four top things. One is community issues; in particular, a housing code. Eugene is the second-largest city in Oregon, and it doesn’t have one. We think that affects students pretty seriously.
Access to education — in particular making sure that students know of the scholarships that are available now, and making sure that is always accessible to them.
Also, protecting the student fee, and making sure students are educated and in control of allocation of money.
And ASUO outreach — I think often times the ASUO is seen as student government when, in fact, it is associated students, which means graduate, undergraduate, law school, non-traditional.
Q: How does the decision to run for office fit into your career goals?
A: [Joy] It was something Nilda randomly asked me about. I had never thought about it. I really didn’t think about politics or anything like this. But the experience in running an organization, being a leader, is something you’re going to need in any field. I really don’t know what I want to do later on in life.
[Nilda] For me too, the aspect of going in this direction is not something I planned at all. But the aspect of the challenges it brings are too good to pass up. As terms of where it will take me in the future, I don’t know.
Q: What specific campus-oriented initiatives will you champion?
A: [Nilda] I feel like the ASUO takes on a lot of campaigns where students have to come to us. I’d like to make the ASUO go to students. Not so much having events that are, Ballroom, 3 p.m. Friday afternoon, but you’re walking down 13th [Avenue], and you encounter something going on that you can be involved with.
I heard recently that the U of O has the second-worst dorms in the country, and the University that was ranked No. 1 is now doing something about their dorms, so we’ll quickly be No. 1. I think definitely looking at how we house our students on campus will be a big issue.
[Joy] Also, our faculty and student relationships are very key. They are mentors, and we have a right to see how our mentors are doing.
[Nilda] Also, that the administrators who are student allies have more participation in what students are doing, and those who chose not to be student allies become student allies very quickly.
Q: What would you advocate for on the state level for students, and how would you carry out your plan?
A: [Joy] A tuition freeze. For every 1 percent tuition increases, 100 students cannot afford to go to college. This year, and next year, there will be a 4 percent increase, so lobbying around that, getting support throughout Oregon is very important to us.
[Nilda] I feel like when education is attacked in little ways, it affects all students and all education. So making sure there’s not just a focus on U of O for U of O, that we work on a statewide level to make sure all education is accessible.
Q: What is your definition of student activism?
A: The ability to challenge those around you to question your own reality and the reality that is presented to you by the faculty, by the media, by all other facets that create the U of O experience. I think having fun, too. This is the time that I’m not responsible for anyone else but myself, so being able to challenge myself and those around me is a really unique and privileged experience.
Q: How do you define diversity, and how do you plan to bring together the diverse voices on campus?
A: [Joy] Being a student of color, that’s automatically the first thing I would think about. But that was actually what I thought about before I came to the University. Now that I’m here, it’s different thoughts, it’s different ideas. For us, it’s building coalitions with different student groups and different voices.
[Nilda] Both of us are in a unique opportunity simply because we were both volunteers and interns with the ASUO diversity team, and now as staff members, almost every single job I do includes five different people who work at five different offices. So just continuing those coalitions that are already built. And there’s real specific plans that have been brought out for the last 10 years by the administration — actual blueprints of how we can diversify this campus — and unfortunately, there seems to be this committee process of “let’s recreate a plan that has already been created,” so my goal is to make sure things aren’t bogged down in committee processes; spending more student time holding the administration accountable for things they said they were going to do five years ago –10 years ago.
Q: If student groups were at odds with each other, how would you resolve the conflict?
A: One of the big reasons student groups get into conflicts is there are real barriers of communication. For instance, I wouldn’t say there’s a lot of communication between an office like Greek Life and an office like the ASUO. Unfortunately, lots of times, student groups get into this feeling that they are a separate, autonomous organization outside the spectrum of being a student group. Things like program council meetings, which were originally set up to make sure those lines of communication were always open, are not really working. It’s the ASUO’s job to branch places where those natural bridges aren’t naturally created. So it would be our job to make sure that Greek Life and the Black Student Union know who each other are.
Q: If there was one thing you could change about the University instantly, what would it be?
A: [Nilda] I think I would introduce a lot more administrators to the average student and have them spend a day with an average student going through their routine. I feel like there’s such distance between administrative decisions that affect the average student on a daily basis and the actuality of what it means to be a U of O student — like the logistics and the nitty-gritty of a day of being an U of O student. I would just like to bring them out of a sheltered realm of administrative offices — this is what my class schedule looks like, this is how much I work to pay tuition, this is how late I stay up to do homework.
Q: Recent history shows a tense relationship between the ASUO Executive and University President Dave Frohnmayer. Do you plan on improving that relationship and, if so, how?
A: I have met Dave Frohnmayer once, and he’s actually very nice. I think tensions are there because both sides have dug their heels in and have decided, “This is as far as I’m going to move.” I think we have a right to be somewhat frustrated with him. But I also see Dave Frohnmayer often times being labeled as somebody who can change something that’s not really in his control. I would like to work with him on things he can change, the things we can change together. President Frohnmayer does not control our tuition at all. But the average student might not know that, so educating students about what President Frohnmayer can and can’t do for us, and then working on the things he can do.
Q: How would you do things differently than current President Jay Breslow and Vice President Holly Magner?
A: I think there’s a different sense of leadership style between the two of us. It’s kind of interesting because we’re on his staff. One thing that I totally admire that he did do was he hired an incredible staff and gave them a lot of independence to do incredible campaigns. I would like to repeat his amazing hires.