One of the biggest and most important reasons why I chose to stand by the Katie and Alex campaign is because of the innovative approach they have both taken on this year. I believe that one of the hardest things the ASUO has struggled with throughout the course of the years has been to equally represent each and every community that comes from diverse backgrounds — this includes having students from varied cultural and political ideologies on board with them.
Because of this, we have seen the lack of student involvement and the lack of representation from various groups when it comes to issues the student government chooses to prioritize on. Katie and Alex understand the difficulties that often arise when trying to work collaboratively with diverse students, yet realize that the reason for the ASUO’s previous failures have been due to the lack of involvement and equal representation of various groups on campus.
This year, Katie and Alex have been putting in long and restless hours organizing and finding successful tactics to move the student body and educate them on issues such as tuition accessibility and student transparency that are personally affecting them. Being heavily involved with unions, student groups and underrepresented communities on campus, and being around their spaces, I have seen Katie invest long hours with these students. As a result, she has gained the trust and respect for the hard work she does and the time she invests. Katie and Alex’s vision is to create leaders from every community and from every group and provide them the space to do it.
I know that over the years, University’s student government has worked very hard to earn its autonomous reputation. Nevertheless, we can all say that the inclusiveness is visible and therefore needs to change. I stand by Katie and Alex because they believe everyone’s voice should be acknowledged through every step of the way.
Jaki Salgado
Oregon Students of Color Coalition board member, Multicultural Center publicist