Welcome back to school, Ducks. Summer has come and gone and now we are headed back to the books. Some of you might have left the country, others, like myself, might have stayed right here in Eugene. No matter if you were far away, here all along, or somewhere in between I hope summer has treated you well.
As we head into the fall there will be a lot of things happening on campus: Weaving New Beginnings, the Fall Street Faire, and a winning football season, just to name a few. My hope is that you will take advantage of all the great events surrounding you on campus and around Eugene. I also have this hope that all of us can take a moment to put down the celebrity gossip magazines, mute the newest episode of The Hills, and close the Facebook page. If we all manage to step away from these daily distractions just long enough to see what is happening in the world we could do a lot of good.
Every one of us is a member of the Associated Students of the University of Oregon. Believe it or not that carries a lot of weight. University of Oregon students have a rich history of activism, volunteerism, and other good -isms like that. In the past students have marched, rioted, hosted symposiums, and voiced their support or objections to events happening in the world around them. While we all might not feel connected to marches and riots in Birkenstocks, we can still carry on a tradition of awareness and active civic engagement. Maybe our generation will wear our Birkenstocks on the inside while we advocate the things we believe in a different fashion then the preceding generation.
Energy, institutional racism, community, university fees, contraceptives, veteran’s support, financial aid, social events, sexual assault, graduation rates, career planning, the recreation center, sustainability. Did any one of those topics strike a chord with you? Those are just some of the topics students around campus will be working on this year. With a special statewide election this November and campus initiatives throughout the year you can be a part of a powerful 20,000-person lobby. We can make our campus a better place and we can also have a significant impact in current discussions around the state and the country.
Register to vote. Be an intern in the ASUO. Go to a group meeting on campus. These might seem like small actions to take but these actions can have a major influence in the issues you care about. We can make changes, improvements, or maintain services we care about if all of us participate when participation is needed. These changes can be as small as more tickets for games, bringing a presidential candidate to speak, all the way to swaying a statewide election with large student turnout at the polls.
We Ducks have a lot of power and an organized student government committed to working for you. What do you want to do this year?