On April 14, the University of Oregon’s student government, ASUO, announced the winner of their presidential elections.
Chloé Webster has been named as the new ASUO president with Finn Jacobson as her vice president. The two ran as part of their slate Amplify UO.
Webster is currently a ASUO senator and is a part of the EMU board.
“In my personal skill set, I enjoy seeing how a large organization or how systems can move together and accomplish a goal and take a broader goal and define multiple steps on how to get there,” she said.
Finn Jacobson has previously worked a project-based internship where he analyzed the University’s linguistic accessibility practices.
“I wanted someone who would be able to challenge me and be able to bounce ideas off of me,” Webster said.
Even with Finn Jacobson’s limited experience in ASUO, Webster said she had full faith that Jacobson would be up to the challenge.
She said they want to prioritize making ASUO more transparent.
Webster said she wants to create more opportunities for the student body to know who is running ASUO and what they are responsible for. She hopes these open lanes of communication will help her and Jacobson be able to further prioritize the concerns of students.
Jacobson said they want to be more transparent about how the different branches within ASUO function.
Webster said many students are not aware of the Incidental Fee, a fee that is part of every students’ tuition. The I-Fee funds various programs and student organizations like LTD bus passes and the Student Conflict Resolution Center.
Webster said the I-Fee budget sits a little over 9 million dollars. She said many students don’t know what that money is going towards and how their money is being spent.
Webster and Jacobson want to improve the relationship between ASUO and student organizations. Webster emphasized that the financial side of ASUO is important for student organizations to understand.
“The relationship between student orgs and ASUO is critical because student orgs are like the backbone of activity on campus,” she said.
Chloé Webster and Finn Jacobson also support the unionization of student workers. Webster said they fully support their movement and even signed a union card.
Jacobson said they plan to represent labor during their time in ASUO. Both Webster and Jacobson said they recognize the importance of the unionization of student workers and maintaining their rights as employees of the university.
They said students should feel open to communicating and talking about issues with their student government.
“I think the first step to having a collaborative campus is letting people know hey, we’re here,” Webster said.
