On April 2, the Daily Emerald moderated the Associated Students of the University of Oregon’s candidate town hall, introducing 48 candidates for ASUO Senate and different positions within the finance committees.
Most candidates who spoke at the town hall represented the Unite UO slate, led by Taliek Lopez-DuBoff or UO Student Power, led by Prissila Moreno.
The town hall began with the current ASUO Senate seat members who are running for ASUO because they had to leave early for the 7 p.m. Senate meeting. The first candidate who spoke was Rain Baumann Gwirtz, who is running for Senate Seat 03 and representing the Programs Finance Committee.
Baumann Gwirtz explained that as an individual on the autism spectrum, she hopes to represent neurodivergent and disabled students because “neurodivergent students and neurodivergent people often do not have seats at the tables where decisions are made.”
Justin Begley, representing the Unite UO slate and running for Senate Seat 03, plans to “ensure the safeguards and proper funding for student-led organizations, particularly our cultural and affinity group.”
Begley emphasized a common issue that student orgs face when coming to ASUO for funds and says, “Students should not feel attacked when coming (to ASUO) to ask for their money.”
Jess Fisher, running for Senate Seat 03 representing the Programs Finance Committee, expressed UO Student Power’s belief that students have the power to organize and make a difference, which was echoed by candidates within the slate throughout the meeting.
“To me, student power isn’t just a catchy slogan; it’s a political vision of what ASUO can be and how students can organize to achieve the things we need to fight back against the rising tide of authoritarianism and rapid rollback of civil rights in this nation,” Fisher said.
Some candidates discussed the importance of “community,” safeguarding the spaces and organizations.
“(Student organizations) provide leadership opportunities for professional development and spaces where students can build meaningful connections,” Derian Ortega, representing Unite UO for Senate Seat 04 Programs Finance Committee, said.
Hadi Charamand, who is running for Contracts Finance Committee At Large Seat 02 under the UO Student Power slate said that “as the outreach coordinator (of the Muslim Student Association), I can tell you that I have learned the importance of community as well as having people who are there to support you,” said
Ciaran Moses, representing UO Student Power, echoed this “deep commitment towards community” in the 90 seconds he had to introduce himself as a candidate for Departments Finance Committee At Large Seat 02.
Zoe Jenkins-Hiscox is running for Senate Seat 12 Arts & Science Undergrad representing Unite UO and said, “I care about each individual I represent and will actively work to improve their time as a student.”
‘Transparency’ within ASUO was also a common theme discussed among the candidates and Parker Nagy, who is running for Senate Seat 11 to represent Arts & Science Undergrads, highlighted the importance of transparency in student government by saying, “they (the students of UO) all share a need for communication, transparency and affordability policies.” Nagy is not associated with either the UO Student Power slate or the Unite UO slate.
Tyler Chisholm, running for Senate Seat 13 Arts & Science Undergrad 3 and representing UO Student Power, voiced the barriers that many student organizations face when it comes to funding forms through ASUO.
“My main goal is to break down barriers. And I can tell you personally that some of these Engage forms are F—* and we (student orgs) need different ways to be able to complete required items,” Chisholm said.
All candidates were given a chance to speak about the role they are running for and were given one minute and 30 seconds to speak about their campaign as well as their goals for ASUO while running during this election.
Logan Taylor running for Senate Seat 05 Contracts Finance Committee said “I would also like to highlight recent events and emphasize that an attack on any student on campus is an attack on all students on our campus.”
Kayla Fisher, a graduate running for Senate Seat 22 Graduate representing UO Student Power, said she believes that “making a difference is taking a stand” and said that “an institution’s success is only as good as the people who make it run.”
Tiera Garrety, also running for Senate Seat 22 Graduate and representing Unite UO, highlighted “a glaring lack of reciprocal and holistic relations between ASUO and GTFF (Graduate Teaching Fellows Federation).”
Benicio Lumbreras also running for CFC At Large Seat 01said he is running under the UO Student Power slate because “(UO)Student Power stood out to me as a force for student rights and representation who seeks to build a more equitable campus and student community that serves us all and highlights diverse student identities.”
Halo Sanchez, also running with Unite UO, said that “moving from Mexico at an important stage of (his) childhood gave (him) a better perspective and showed the importance of inclusivity.”.
Jordan Kogawa, who is the VP of finance for Women in Business and running for Programs Finance Committee At Large Seat 01 for Unite UO, said she personally knows “how intimidating ASUO can feel to student orgs,” and said she wants to “ reach out to student organizations to make them feel that the ASUO is not intimidating.”
Ling Pu, also running for PFC At Large Seat 04 for Unite UO, said that being an out of state student she “felt that my education was not as valuable as the dollars I was paying to be here,” and she “believe(s) that students’ confidence in their educational system is the absolute foundation, and is “the bare minimum.”
“As someone who struggles with major depression, I understand and have first-hand experience on how places of welcome save lives,” said Ming Kim, Unite UO’s candidate for Senate Seat 01, Programs Finance Committee.
Fabian Gomez Hernandez, who is representing the Procrastinators Club of America, summarized their sentiment and said, “We do not believe in a better UO today. We do not believe in a better UO some time far in the future. We believe in a better UO tomorrow.”
Piper smith who is a first generation college student to do her single mother having to drop out of college to have her said, “I believe that we should be seeking out the students that we claim to care about. And we should be listening to them and making legislation in support of those people.”
Bella Heffert-Hay pointed out that “UOSW and ASUO have never had a positive relationship in the existence of our Union” and said she is “hoping to mend this relationship and advocate for all students, including our student workers. Unlike previous administrations at this university.”
Yvette Amo-Adiefeh talked about the rollback of DEI programs, saying, “These programs have been taught by faculty that have spent many years putting their hearts, sweat, and tears into.”
Noah Weis, who is a student org leader for Quack Hacks, explained his experience with ASUO, saying, “Our team followed every rule and spent hours perfecting our surplus requests. Though it still hit invisible walls, the issue? ASUO’s Financial and strategic priorities aren’t clearly shared with student orgs.
Karen Glynn wants to raise awareness about the basic needs programs’ availability and said, “I myself have only recently discovered many of the resources available to me, and I feel very strongly that we should be increasing efforts to make other students aware of those.”
River Cellis said that “at first, ASUO seemed, and still does sometimes, like a faceless organization that existed only to take money from my tuition, and the reason why I am running is to help shine the light on the inner workings (of ASUO).”
Kiasia Baggenstos said in her introduction that “DEI is a right, not a privilege.” Baggenstos said she has “experienced microaggressions” and that “microaggressions are just the start; because when small boundaries are ignored, bigger ones get pushed.”
Alex Hiuhu, a journalism undergrad running for Senate Seat 18 Journalism Undergrad, said that “SOJC students shouldn’t just be preparing for the media industry. We should be shaping it.”
Sarah Quesenberry talked about the gap between the law school students and ASUO and is running “in order to help build that bridge.” Quesenberry said it has been “very disheartening to hear…a lot of frustration from other student leaders as they try and navigate and work with ASUO and especially ASUO policy.
