Why are you running in the ASUO Election?
Hi everyone! My name is Toby Cole (They/He). I am a Southern California community college transfer student in my junior year studying Family and Human services in the prevention science track and minoring in Disability Studies. On campus, I am involved with research under the Center on Human Development, and campus org's like Mecha and YDSA . Outside of campus involvement, you can find me playing DND, cooking with my friends, and getting involved in community-based activism. With our current times shifting, I am running to uplift and empower underserved communities who so often face institutional disenfranchisement, by ensuring all students on campus are valued in their entirety. Actions I want to pursue include: advocating for the further development of the Latiné Cultural Center to meet the needs of current and future students. And building protections for our immigrant, undocumented, international students, and students of color from immigration enforcement threats on campus by ensuring UO builds comprehensive structures to protect our large student population. Overall, I want to help create more opportunities for those of minority backgrounds by creating space, protections, and fostering opportunities for professional, cultural, and academic growth.
As one of the most front facing parts of ASUO, how do you plan on making these interactions as positive as possible for students?
If elected, I would strive to make systems more transparent, equitable, and responsive to students and their needs. Strengthening the connection between ASUO, Student org leaders and our student population is critical when building and maintaining a health community. Through my experiences being a transfer student, a Latino, and a member of the LGBTQ and Transgender communities, I have felt the impacts of being disregarded in systems. If I were elected, I would strive to make sure students feel represented, affirmed, and valued without feeling like they must shrink themselves to be respected. I want to ensure that students' voices are honored and empowered so we can continue to build a strong supportive UO community.
How are you connected to the academic programs you represent? How will you utilize these connections to best represent students?
As a Family and Human Services major, I continually study how our systems have worked to benefit and at times harm our communities. In the prevention science track, I am invested in dismantling systems that may cause harm and further develop systems that act as protective factors for community members. I want to take the lessons I have learned within the classroom and apply them into our UO community. If elected to Senate seat 17, I would work to ensure the needs and concerns of students in the College of Education and the College of Arts & Sciences are heard fully and advocated for at an institutional level. I believe that our university’s strength is our students’ voices; I hope to help all our students raise theirs.