The end of May marks the end of another ASUO administration. After a rarely precedented four-week election and a year filled with notable ups and downs, ASUO President Ben Eckstein and Vice President Katie Taylor will leave office Thursday night, making way for President-elect Laura Hinman and Vice President-elect Nick McCain.@@allnameschecked@@

This year marked a controversial one for the ASUO, starting with Taylor’s marriage to Oregon Student Public Interest Research Group@@http://ospirgstudents.org/@@ former board chair Charles Denson.@@http://dailyemerald.com/2012/04/03/grievance-filed-against-asuo-president-ben-eckstein-vp-katie-taylor-2/@@ This was followed by an alleged check fraud, where Ben and Katie’s campaign manager took money from Denson for the campaign but left his name off the final budget.
Then, during the election, members of the Katie and Alex campaign allegedly used a phishing website to gain access to the emails of members of opposing campaigns.
Though the year was sprinkled with controversy, Eckstein said he is proud of the work the Executive has done this year.
“I think we absolutely strengthened student voices on campus,” he said. “Students are talking more about transparency in the Athletic Department, and issues of social justice are more common in the ASUO.”
Taylor and Eckstein worked last fall to ensure a student vote on the renovation of the EMU and Student Recreation Center for the ASUO elections in April.
“We set a statewide precedent that students need to be able to vote,” Eckstein said. “In the long run, that has made students more powerful.”
Taylor also worked to put a student voice at the table during conversations about the Department of Public Safety becoming a police force. Eckstein took a stance against carrying concealed weapons on campus.
The Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program,@@http://honors.uoregon.edu/story/inside-out-prison-exchange-program@@ a class where University students go to the Oregon State Penitentiary and study beside prisoners, received more money last term and is now available to every student. ASUO Chief of Staff Kerry Snodgrass was excited to see this program grow.@@http://directory.uoregon.edu/telecom/directory.jsp?p=findpeople%2Ffind_results&m=student&d=person&b=name&s=Kerry+Snodgrass@@
“This is a great opportunity to expand how we define education,” she said. “One of my favorite parts of this year was accomplishing tangible changes on campus.”
ASUO Communications Director Andrew Rogers@@http://directory.uoregon.edu/telecom/directory.jsp?p=findpeople%2Ffind_results&m=student&d=person&b=name&s=Andrew+Rogers@@ is proud of a rally he helped organize that was calling for the Athletic Department to become more financially accountable.
“Overall, this created a lot of good dialogue about transparency and priorities of the institution,” Rogers said. “It got the ball rolling and will continue to be talked about for years to come.”
Spring term brought a very complicated elections process, as well as a voter registration drive run by the Executive that registered 2,661 students on campus to vote.
“I have so much pride in what the Exec accomplished this year while trying to do really good things,” Snodgrass said.
Eckstein agreed and added that the most important thing to remember as a student leader is to always keep working for the students.
“To Laura I would say, ‘Don’t ever forget who you work for — you are here to represent students,’” he said. “I have been so honored to work for students, and I want to thank students for that.”