So what exactly are these elections about?
Well, each term, students at the University of Oregon pay an incidental fee. Altogether, this money adds up to more than $11 million over the course of the year. Each and every dollar of this money is distributed by one group: The Associated Students of the University of Oregon (ASUO).
The money that is spent by the ASUO is controlled by two groups: The ASUO Senate and the ASUO Executive. The Senate is made up of 20 students – 10 senators who sit on finance committees, and 10 senators who represent different majors and departments. Each year, the Senate approves a budget which must also be approved by the ASUO President before it’s finalized. And of course, like any good democratic body, the ASUO holds elections every year to fill those positions.
That’s where we come in.
Every year, campaigns raise a ton of money doing everything they can to appeal to narrow constituent groups in order to get votes. And every year, student government continues to fall short in reaching out to more students and improving their experience on campus.
We formed the True Blue Student Coalition because we were tired of things being that way. From the beginning, we wanted to be about something bigger than petty politics. We assembled a team of people from all across campus, each of them with a different background and a different story to tell, but all of them committed to the idea that the ASUO can and should do better. We’re a diverse group, but we all believe that we need to “make student government matter” for all students on campus.
That means doing things differently. Instead of being focused on raising as much money as possible in order to win, we declared a self-imposed campaign spending limit of $2009. From there, we started building. Our first team meetings were volunteer events, where we helped paint fences and worked in a community garden. We reached out to our friends and encouraged them to join up with the campaign to help us make a difference. From the beginning, we were committed to designing a people-powered campaign – one that harnessed the enthusiasm and commitment of many individuals to make one powerful group.
Now we need YOUR help.
It’s going to be a busy few weeks of campaigning, but we’re doing everything we can to reach out to all students. We’ll be in constant communication with folks through Facebook and Twitter. We’ll be walking around campus in the first few weeks of school, trying to find out how much people are paying for textbooks. We’ll be having a free concert in the EMU Amphitheatre on Wednesday, April 1st from 12pm-2pm to introduce ourselves to people on campus. And we’ll be canvassing each Saturday and Sunday and organizing street teams on weekdays to try to talk with as many folks as possible about the campaign. Throughout all of this, our goal will be simple: Find out how you think we can best “make student government matter” for everyone on campus.
So what can you do to push this movement forward?
First, you can sign up to receive our Twitter updates by texting “on VoteTrueBlue” to 40404. When it asks for your name, just put in anything you’d like and you’ll be confirmed!
Next, you can get involved on Facebook. The best way you can do that is by downloading our Facebook application. Then join the Facebook group, add us to your profile and reach out to your friends!
You can also sign-up to volunteer right here on this site! Just scroll over “Connect” on the navigation bar above, and click “Volunteer”. We’ll get you set up doing whatever you’d like using whatever time you might be able to give.
But most importantly, we need you to VOTE. Starting Monday, April 6, you can log on to DuckWeb and click on the link to vote in student elections. This will continue until Thursday, April 9 at 5pm, which will mark the end of the primaries. If there isn’t a winner for some of the positions, the general election will start on Monday, April 13 and continue until Thursday, April 16 at 5pm, and we’ll need you to vote again to support our candidates!
We want to make sure YOUR voice is heard. With your help, we can “Make Student Government Matter”. Tell us what you want to see on campus.
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