Of about 5,000 freshmen who stepped on to the University of Oregon campus this year, one of them has a seat on the UO’s highest governing board, the Board of Trustees, and a vote which will help shape the fate of the university.
Freshman William Paustian began his term as this year’s student representative of the Board of Trustees on Nov. 15.
Paustian is a native of Portland, Oregon and a graduate of Central Catholic High School. During his high school years he thrived as a leader for his community.
As student body president, he made the minutes in-between classes more upbeat by having students and teachers drop songs requests into a poll box, and have the winning choice blare from loudspeakers during passing periods.
Paustian also turned a struggling sports broadcasting club, which had little more than a camera and a “dinky” computer, into a nationally-recognized program of 40 members providing live feed for football, basketball, volleyball and baseball games.
The new student BOT member graduated from CCHS with a 3.9 GPA, and entered the UO Robert D. Clark Honors College as a Stamps Scholar — a scholarship for Oregonians which includes free tuition for four years.
For the Dean of the Honors College, Dr. Terry Hunt, it was Paustian’s sense of compassion which had partly caused him to encourage Paustian to apply for the BOT position.
Hunt learned that when Paustian’s friend, Jake Ellis, had been involved in a near-fatal car accident, he had rallied the community’s sympathies by designing and selling T-shirts emblazoned with “Fight On Jake.” The funds went towards supporting the family and his efforts behind the sales brought the attention of a Portland news station.
“I think that kind of care and compassion is really important in anyone who is going to be a leader” Hunt said, “I am really confident that Will will do a great job, and I know that he cares so much about his fellow students that he is going to represent them very well.”
Emma Anderson, Paustian’s best friend, described how he expressed surprise when he found out he got appointed by Oregon Governor, Kate Brown, for the position.
“I told him ‘of course you did [receive the position]’” Anderson said, “After you meet him, you see what he does, his passion, and you see just what he is capable of.”
Since stepping into his new role, Paustian is meeting with student leaders and administrators to learn about differing views on the guaranteed tuition proposal, which is a developing plan to make tuition increase by the same amount over four-years, unlike the current system where tuition increases by a different number annually.
“I have been putting in a lot of effort to make sure I build as many relationships as I can because I don’t want anybody to feel that their student representative isn’t in touch with what the students believe,” Paustian said.
Next month, he will be called upon to decide with the BOT on whether or not this plan should be pursued for a vote next year.
Meet your new student BOT member, William Paustian
Andrew Field
November 26, 2015
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