Taliek Lopez-DuBoff tendered his resignation from the Associated Students of the University of Oregon Senate in an email statement late on Oct. 8, effective immediately.

The former senator said he has been honored to represent the university and is proud to have played a part in making it “a more inclusive and responsive place for all students.” 

Lopez-DuBoff said he believes ASUO is “on a troubling course” where “division overshadows purpose and collaboration.” In the resignation, Lopez-DuBoff cited divisiveness, which he claimed was reminiscent of the Trump administration.

In response to Lopez-DuBoff’s statements about division, ASUO Senate Speaker Quadrian Gill said that this year’s senate has a lot of new people with “different ideas and philosophies” who are making important decisions with a lower budget. 

“These things are being navigated in a way that does involve disagreement, but I think it’s been really productive and cordial,” Gill said.

In addressing Lopez-Duboff’s comparison of ASUO to the Trump Administration, Gill said he was disappointed seeing that comparison and felt it was “dangerous.” 

ASUO Senate Deputy Speaker Erin Luedemann agreed, saying she felt it was “disrespectful and insensitive” to what Americans are experiencing right now. 

“We are willing to take all the criticism we want, but it does feel like an exaggeration when you’re comparing your student government to an administration who’s disappearing people off the streets,” Gill said. “So I want to make that clear; we are moving forward and we plan to come together, but I want to separate the legitimacy of that claim to ASUO.”

ASUO President Prissila Moreno said the comparison “demonstrates a clear lack of understanding for our political moment,” referring to the current U.S. administration.

“I strongly disagree with the former Senator’s characterization of ASUO,” Moreno said in a statement to the Emerald. “A necessary part of politics is healthy disagreement. If former Sen. Lopez-DuBoff felt that particular conversations were crossing the line, he should have raised these concerns to senate leadership or myself. But according to Speaker Gill, the former senator did neither.”

Lopez-DuBoff said that not every ASUO officer “perpetuated” the alleged behavior, but that there were “enough” members that did. “I am not the only Senator to resign this session from these same concerns,” Lopez-DuBoff said in his notice of resignation.

Lopez-DuBoff is the third senator to resign within the last three months: Aaron Busi resigned from his position on Oct. 1 and Kiasia Baggenstos did so during the summer.

 “I just figured out that I wasn’t really a great fit for the position, given the whole workplace in general,” Busi said. “I didn’t really enjoy it. I always kind of thought that there was a little bit of miscommunication overall.”

Busi explained that he felt there was a lack of distinction between the branches of governance.

“Senate and the exec branches were kind of overlapping a bit instead of being independent,
I didn’t really agree with that,” Busi said. “I think that’s what (Taliek is) trying to get at with the whole Trump administration, where the exec kind of sways the senate’s decisions. That’s kind of how it was working.”

Lopez-DuBoff joined ASUO in fall 2023 as an academic senator. During the 2024-25 academic year, he served as the senate president. This year, Lopez-DuBoff said he looks forward to continuing to serve on the Erb Memorial Union Board, as a member of the UO Board of Trustees and the Campus Planning Committee. 

“I feel that my values of transparency and commitment to serving all people at the UO are better served in these roles,” Lopez-DuBoff said in his notice of resignation. 

Lopez-DuBoff declined to comment at this time.

Editor’s note: Due to an editor’s error, this story has been updated following a error in a quote from ASUO President Prisilla Moreno. The Emerald regrets this error.