Mariam Hassan, president of the Associated Students of the University of Oregon, answered a series of questions about her and her administration’s plans for the upcoming year after being elected as president on April 8, without any ASUO experience.

Emerald: What are you [Hassan] and your administration currently planning for the upcoming year?

Hassan: One of the biggest things that we’re working on is advocacy this year, and that falls into different points. So we have our Department of Advocacy who does a lot of that, but us, as ASUO as a whole, do a lot of it like lobbying.

One of the new things we did this summer is we joined the Association of Big Ten Students…and it’s pretty simple. We work with all of the Big Ten schools…and we lobby together federally and we figure out where we all lie on certain issues and we bring it up to [Washington] D.C., and we get to lobby together on behalf of students.

[Higher education funding] is something that we’re working on a lot this year: housing, campus safety. Wednesday [Sept. 25] during the Senate meeting, me and the Senate president signed a letter of stopping campus hazing, and we’re gonna be sending that to Amy [Klobuchar] and Bernie Sanders.

Emerald: How are you and your administration planning to connect student groups [Students for Justice in Palestine, Jewish Voice for Peace, Ducks 4 Israel, Oregon Hillel] to ASUO and the rest of campus?

Hassan: Our sole purpose is that we’re a resource for students and making sure that student voices are heard. As we saw last year, administration isn’t necessarily providing that space for students to have constructive dialogue in the same environment.

I think this year we really want to expand that…like student forums or town halls, but that also means that we are providing them a resource. If they want to contact administration, we can be that resource and that connection.

Emerald: What is your administration’s biggest goal for this year?

Hassan: Engaging with the broader student body is a huge thing, and so we are going to be launching a new website in a couple of weeks and hopefully that will help mitigate a lot of the transparency issues that were happening last year. I don’t think students fully understand what ASUO can and can’t do.

It’s really good to have a lot of goals and a lot of things that we want to achieve throughout the year and creating the resources for students, but none of that necessarily matters if students don’t know what’s there. 

So I think the biggest thing is to lay that foundation first, and that foundation is reaching out to students, meeting them where we’re at, where they’re at and then from there we can start implementing the new things that we’re trying to achieve throughout the year.

Emerald: What do you feel will be your biggest obstacle for your goals this year?

Hassan: One of the things is combatting the perceived notion of ASUO. For me, I kind of fell into that. I’m new, and it’s hard to join an organization fresh [without] knowing what it is; I didn’t even know what ASUO was last year, and now I’m here as the president.

It’s easy for people to assume that ASUO can do a lot of things, and coming on the other side of that, I was able to see why certain things weren’t being done or how we can change that to make it better for students.

To me, I think that’s a transparency issue on our end, and I think it’s our job to make it clear to students, ‘Hey, we actually cannot do that, but we can do this. We can support you in this way.’

On a more personal level for me, I think coming into this new role, it’s gonna be learning how to separate personal and professional, and where I can give my opinion on a personal side and then also understanding my role as president.

Emerald: Last year, [UO] had a lot of different strikes and potential strikes.  How would you deal with potential strikes of student groups and these other groups on campus happening in the upcoming year?

Hassan: Like I said, ASUO is there as a resource because we are here to support all students, specifically anybody in a vulnerable position. There are definitely legal implications of how involved we do get, but we are there as a resource to help people get to where they’re at, or if they need to make a connection or if they need to talk to a specific person, we can guide them through that.

Emerald: Last year during your campaign, there were some skepticism from some people after [attending a conference hosted by the Campus Victory Project]. How are you going to work around students who may have skepticism about your ability to lead as president of ASUO?

Hassan: I think that’s a really valid question, and they have every right to, if students feel skeptical. I’m very new to this organization; I went from not even knowing that it exists to now holding the top role. I understand where the skepticism comes from, but I think it’s just gonna come from my administration showing how hard we’re working this year and earning that trust to work with students and them being open, but also us being open. 

Emerald: How does your administration plan to connect and work with UO administration in the upcoming year?

Hassan: There’s a new [Vice President for Student Life] and we’ve been able to already have meetings about the food pantry, so that’s already gotten started. We’re trying to figure out where the food pantry can be, the short-term solution of having it start right away, but then the long-term solution of having a permanent location for it, but that’s something that we’re working on.

I’ve already met with President [John Karl] Scholz a couple of times, shared what ASUO is trying to do and making sure that’s on their radar and knowing that they’re there in case we need them.