The posters are torn down, the chalk is fading and the campaign twitter accounts are sitting idle. In short, ASUO elections season has come to an end.
The current ASUO term ends May 24 and a new administration takes office May 25. The upcoming transition will bring a new crop of senators to the ASUO. Of the twenty senate seats three will be filled by current senators Miles Sisk, Rebecca Rhodes and Josh Seligsohn.
Candidates from both campaigns, 12 senators from the Mighty Oregon campaign and four senators from the Ducks Like You campaign, won senate seats in the election. Senate seat 15 was not filled and will be appointed by the Executive. No candidates were on the ballot for senate seat 15 and no write-in option met the received at least 10 percent of the vote or accepted the position.
Mighty Oregon swept most of the senate seats while Ducks Like You won the executive race. Despite the divided government, senators from both campaigns are determined to work together to improve the ASUO.
“I do feel that everyone who got elected, both on our ticket and on Mighty Oregon’s ticket, are going to ultimately make great changes for our senate.” Senator Elect Samantha Cohen said.
Cohen, a sophomore, is a family and human services major filling senate seat 13 from the Ducks Like You campaign. Cohen has been involved with the ASUO Women’s Center, the Oregon Student Association and other groups of campus. This campaign was Cohen’s first ASUO election.
“I really wanted to represent the student body,” Cohen said about her decision to run for senate. “I have attended senate meetings in the past and I was very disappointed in how I saw some senators react to issues on campus. I felt like people whose voices needed to be heard weren’t being heard.”
As a senator Cohen plans to get involved in the Sexual Assault Prevention Task Force, now known as the Organization Against Sexual Assault, and promote cultural competency.
Senator Elect Yelin Oh is no stranger to the ASUO. Oh, a junior, won her seat of the Programs Finance Committee last year while running on the Ducks for a Difference campaign. This year Oh was elected to senate seat 1 on the Mighty Oregon campaign.
Oh’s involvement in both progressive and conservative campaigns on campus reflects her desire for an ASUO that is diverse in thought and unafraid to work and listen to one another.
Her experience on PFC helped Oh to understand the complexities of the ASUO budget. As a senator Oh hopes to make it easier for programs to go through the PFC process.
“I want to help the process get easier with surplus funds and speaking at senate,” Oh said. “I think a lot of people, except those on PFC, don’t realize that a lot of the program leaders are new and don’t know what’s going on or don’t know a lot about the process.”
ASUO Senate Vice President Amy Jones offers this advice to incoming senators.
“My advice for future senators is to always be willing to learn,” she said. “Be conscious about which voices are missing from the room and reach out to students with different views from your own so that you can begin to understand a more complete picture. It is critical to recognize that there is privilege associated with your position, and respect is earned by your work ethic, how you treat those you disagree with and by your words and actions both in Senate and on campus each day.”