Tell us about yourself.

My name is Tiera Garrety, I am a member of the Chehalis Tribe and I was raised in Olympia, WA. Currently, I am a graduating senior majoring in Native American and Indigenous Studies with accompanying minors in sociology and Legal Studies. Additionally, I am a Co-Director for the Native American Student Union this year. Upon completing my undergraduate career, I am looking to begin my graduate studies in Public Administration.

What are the three key issues that you've noticed on campus that you hope to improve for students as an elected official? Please list each issue and briefly explain how you hope to improve it.

.The issue I am most passionate about changing is the current PFC budgeting process. As a leader for a cultural organization, the budgeting process as it stands does not support cultural organizations. For organizations within the MCC, I believe that it will be most beneficial for those budgets to be reviewed and allotted by the MCC rather than ASUO because ASUO has a long-standing history of attacking the budgets of such organizations. Secondly, I want to return the unnecessarily large surplus ASUO has to the organizations it serves. Over the Covid pandemic, a disproportionately large amount of cultural organizations were defunded. To create an equitable community on campus, we must refund them. Within this position, I am deeply committed to supporting cultural organizations on campus.

Why are you running?

As a Co-Director for NASU and leader within the Indigenous community, I have noticed time and time again that practices and actions on behalf of ASUO negatively impact my communities to a degree where it can become unsustainable to be Indigenous on this campus. Understanding the disparities that exist within higher education, I want to ensure that ASUO is taking the steps necessary to create an environment in which generations long after us can thrive.