With the general election starting Monday, candidates for ASUO Executive office have been exhausting themselves trying to be as welcoming and inviting to students as a cup of hot cocoa after a brutal final exam.

Several weeks of tireless campaigning are winding down, and students have the opportunity to shape the future of student leadership at the University by voting in the general election, which begins Monday at 8 a.m. and ends Wednesday at 5 p.m.
Maddy Melton and Eddy Morales will be running against Christa Shively and Greg Bae for ASUO Executive. Each ticket has been pressing its message about how it can make life at the University better, but the candidates had different beginnings and have different reasons for wanting to be student leaders.
Melton, a 23-year-old junior in sociology and women’s studies, works in the current ASUO administration as a co-multicultural advocate. She is also chairwoman of the Oregon Statewide Student Equal Rights Alliance and is active in the United States Student Association.
Melton said life at the University forever changed the course of her life. While growing up in a small, conservative town in rural Oregon, she never thought she would be able to travel and lobby for important legislation in Washington, D.C. Instead, she thought she might end up being a firefighter like her father.
Now, Melton said she plans to do community organizing for a non-profit group after graduation. She added she wants to go back to rural areas like the one she grew up in, to help make sure access to higher education is available to everyone.
Morales is a 23-year-old undeclared junior who plans to triple major in planning, public policy and management, Spanish and international studies. Morales has kept himself busy lending a hand to several groups and organizations on campus. Besides working with the ASUO administration as a co-multicultural advocate and being a former student senator, Morales has worked with the Oregon Students of Color Coalition and MEChA, and he currently sits on the Multicultural Center Board of Directors.
Just like his running mate, Morales did not think he was going to be college-bound when he was growing up. With the help of “Upward Bound,” a program focused on helping first-generation students get into college, Morales started on the path that would lead him to where he is today.
“The struggle is for everyone who comes from a working class or comes from backgrounds where their family hasn’t gone to college before,” he said.
Shively, a 21-year-old senior double major in history and women and gender studies, is chairwoman of the EMU Board of Directors and EMU representative on the Associated Students Presidential Advisory Board. Shively said she’s always been drawn to politics and student leadership. Through her work on the EMU Board, Shively said she has been able to help make the EMU a more inviting place and help make sure the incidental fee process serves students well.
“I find it incredibly enriching and fulfilling to be able to make changes at the University,” she said.
Besides providing intellectual stimulation, Shively said her time at the University has also contributed to her growth as an individual by helping her with interpersonal skills and teaching her to be more goal-oriented. She added that after graduation, her long-term goal is to go to law school and eventually become involved in lobbying efforts to help increase access to higher education.
Bae, 22, is a senior triple major in mathematics, economics and political science. After he finishes his undergraduate degree, Bae said he plans to go on to a doctoral program in economics. He added that he is interested in the economic systems of developing countries, and helping them restructure their economies to serve people in the best way possible.
Bae has been involved in several student organizations on campus, including OSPIRG and APASU, as well as being a member of a fraternity, Delta Sigma Phi. Outside of the University, Bae’s personal interests include photography, painting and listening to jazz music, which Bae said are extensions of his appreciation for the idea of self-expression.
Recently Bae indulged his photography hobby during a spring break trip to Mexico. He added he traveled there as part of a church mission trip to shoot a photo documentary on migrant worker communities.