Editor’s Note: The Daily Emerald welcomes Guest Viewpoints or Letters to the Editor from the University of Oregon and Eugene community.
This letter reflects the opinions of its writer, Andrew Ducharme, and not of The Emerald as an organization.
As an ASUO senator, I’ve worked this year with both Treasurer Prissila Moreno and Speaker Taliek Lopez-DuBoff, the presidential candidates of the UO Student Power and Unite UO slates.
While Speaker Lopez-DuBoff has proven an exceptional and tireless worker on behalf of students, he and Unite UO are not the slate for this political moment. As the Supreme Court actively weighs whether the federal government can vanish people, in a decision as potentially catastrophic as Dred Scott and Korematsu, we need representation that is willing to stand up and organize on behalf of students, immigrants and higher education.
That representation comes best from Sen. Moreno and UOSP.
Both slates have similar platforms: improving the accessibility of ASUO, expanding basic needs assistance and supporting student workers. What differentiates them – beyond the labor endorsements of UOSP by both UO Student Workers and the Graduate Teaching Fellows Federation – is UO Student Power’s political consciousness.
President Trump and his ever more authoritarian government are making explicitly political attacks on higher education. UOSP and its leadership understand the strongest response is not to claim political neutrality, but to build a coalition and the political power to fight back. They’ve already begun, and their election will unlock tremendous resources to protect students while opening doors to convince university administration, namely The Board of Trustees and President Scholz, to do the same.
As a graduate student representative and a proud GTFF member, I voted for UOSP and ask you do, too.
Sen. Andrew Ducharme represents College of Arts and Sciences and College of Design graduate students in the ASUO Senate. He is a fifth-year PhD candidate in physics.
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