Mount Hood

Know your candidates

By: Jade Rayner
News Editor

ASWOU is beginning the process of electing new candidates, and with that, they are offering numerous chances for students to get to know who they will be voting for.

Students will need to vote using OrgSync. Voting will open May 1, and close on May 5 at 3 p.m., and can be accessed by going to wou.edu/aswou.

In order to provide a chance for every student to cast their vote, polling stations will be open in the Werner University Center and Valsetz during the election period.

Please note that The Western Journal does not endorse any candidates or their policies.

Events:
– May 1st, 11-1 in WUC 2nd Floor – Meet the Candidates
Stop by the WUC and get to know the candidates for ASWOU elected offices. This is a great chance to ask individual questions and become familiar with each candidate’s priorities. Be an informed voter and show your fellow students some support!

– May 2nd, 2pm in WUC, Columbia Room – Candidate Forum
This is a chance to hear from the candidates for ASWOU office and ask them questions in a formal setting. There will be a question and answer period for each candidate.

– May 3rd, 12-2pm on WUC Plaza – Poppin’ and Vote
Pop on in to get some popcorn, sno-cones, and vote in the ASWOU Election!

– May 4th, 6:30-10pm in RWEC 101 – Star Wars Celebration: May the 4th Be With You

Celebrate Star Wars Day and win some awesome prizes! We will be watching Star Wars: The Force Awakens, having a group and individual costume contest, asking Star Wars trivia, and giving away many prizes! You can even vote in the ASWOU Elections to be entered to win prizes! Doors open at 6:30, and the movie will begin promptly at 7:00. Come have a great time, win free stuff, and, of course, May the 4th Be With You!

Candidate Platforms:

ASWOU President
Cynthia Olivares
Like anything, there is always room for improvement. One of the ways I intend to better ASWOU is making it more accessible to all students. There is a very minimum of students that know what ASWOU is, and I want to make sure that all students can access the benefits that ASWOU brings to campus. I also want to make sure that students know ASWOU is a safe space for students and that we work to go above and beyond to address any student concerns. Another important issue I will be working with is fighting against tuition increases. At this point tuition is getting outrageously expensive and it is something I will be working on at both a campus and a state level.
These changes are necessary because as students we all pay a fee to receive benefits that ASWOU brings but not any students are aware. I also think that these changes are necessary because it establishes community within our diverse campus.
It is also important to fight against tuition increases because tuition is already too expensive. This needs to change because it is making it more difficult for students to stay in school and pursue a higher education.
My priority is to inform students of what ASWOU is and what benefits it can offer. I also want to provide many students with leadership opportunities. There are many things for students to get involved but many folks are not aware of it.

Jessica Freeman
I have been involved with ASWOU since my first year at Western Oregon University. I started my journey through ASWOU as a Senator, where I was elected by the Senate Body to hold the position of Senate Parliamentarian, and the chair of two separate subcommittees. During my second year within ASWOU, I was elected as the Senate President, where I took the information gained as a Senator, and put it to better use. After two years in Senate, I wanted to challenge myself even more during my third year in ASWOU, so I ran and was elected the Judicial Administrator. I have been a branch head for two years now, which gives me invaluable experience and has prepared me to run for ASWOU President. Through my three years in ASWOU, I have seen three different administrations; I have seen firsthand what tactics work and what tactics do not work for this organization. I am extremely knowledgeable and passionate about ASWOU, and with my past experiences I am the most qualified candidate for ASWOU President.
ASWOU was cut 30% of their budget through the Incidental Fee Committee Process during Winter Term 2017. The next ASWOU President will have to work hard and creatively in order to allow ASWOU to function at its highest with such an extensive cut. Through my experience in both Senate and Judicial Board, I am ready to dedicate my last year at Western Oregon University to ensure ASWOU is properly overseen and assists the wide range of student populations WOU has to offer. Focusing within ASWOU, I intend to challenge the positions in cabinet whose primary functions are to produce outreach strategies. The ASWOU Executive Branch has severely suffered from a lack of outreach recently, and students need to know ASWOU exists to serve them. When looking at WOU, students for many years have voiced negative opinions about the Oregon Student Association (OSA). If elected ASWOU President, I will focus on improving the relationship ASWOU and WOU have with OSA based on student feedback and how students want their money to be spent.
I am a hardworking individual who is dedicated to the improvement of ASWOU as a whole. The next academic year will be an interesting challenge, and one that I have waited three years for. I am ready to take on the honored responsibility of being the ASWOU President for the 2017-2018 academic year.

ASWOU Vice President
Evelyn Guzman
Hello my name is Evelyn Guzman (she, her, hers). I am running for Vice President because I feel like I have knowledge, enthusiasm, and skills I can contribute to ASWOU. I have been very involved since my first year at WOU and I have been learning a lot about different aspects of our community. By getting this position I will be bringing more diversity into it as well as knowledge I have gained so far. I am the best candidate because I have been involved in a lot of student movements, I am bilingual and already have connections with different organizations, coalitions, and individuals because of my continuous involvement. I have held positions within MEChA both in our WOU chapter and regionally, I am an advocate for Abby’s House, and a Multicultural Representative. I am also active in our community outside of the WOU campus with activities such as pushing for Monmouth to be an Inclusive City and a campaign as part of the Oregon DACA Coalition. I have done several trainings in different issues such as the Ally trainings on campus and attended conferences at the local, regional and national level that have made me grow as a team member and leader. From each one of these I have learned different skills that I would be bringing with me to this position. I am the definition of a student voice and I intend to keep representing, advocating, and listening to what students have to say in order to make WOU the best possible place to be. I hope I can count on your vote. Thank you!

Felicia Dickinson
I am running for ASWOU Vice President because I believe the student body needs a leader who will fight to protect and expand their educational experience. I have worked in Student Government for four years as a Student Senator and as a member of various subcommittees focusing on affordability and sustainability. This year as a Student Senator, I have gone to the State Capital to speak to subcommittees about higher education funding, the continued funding of Open Educational Resources and lobbied legislators to invest in students and their futures. Affordability and sustainability are vital to our campus; we must be proactive in finding solutions to these issues on our campus. It is important to know who represents you as a student and will champion for causes that are detrimental to our educational survival. If I am elected, my year long goals are to spread the use of Open Educational Resources to allow students a flexible option as they learn, work with all of our allies to better serve the student body, and be as visible to my fellow students as much as possible so they too can get involved. Collaboration as students make our victories universal. If I am elected to be your Vice President, you can count on me to always represent the voice of the student body, whether it is speaking on campus or in front of legislators. With your help, I promise to make this campus a place where students are able to foster the academic environment they deserve.

Lily Odegaard
I am running for the position of Vice President because I feel I have a lot to offer to our community. I have been apart of many clubs and organization in high school, and am currently an Activities Director for the Landers/Barnum hall government, as well as a co-chair of activities and entertainment for the on-campus Relay For Life. All of those experiences have taught me how to be an effective leader, communicator, planner, and advocate. I have the drive to make our community even better than it already is, and I plan to do so through engaging with the student body, and being sure our needs and concerns are being met. As well as through active promotion of all our on-campus resources such as the Food Pantry. This is necessary for improving our community because ASWOU is funded through student fees, and the primary focus of the organization is after all, the students.My priorities in office would be listening our community, hearing their voices and doing my best to act as a representative for each of them. As well as supporting the President and the rest of the governing body, and making sure everything is running smoothly and effectively, with the ultimate goal of improving our campus and community.

Senate President
Lila Jones
I am running for Senate President because I have been the Senate Pro-Tempore (Vice Chair) for my two years in Senate, and I feel that I would be able to lead and aid the future Senators well in their positions because I know what it is like to be them and the importance of representing all of the students at Western Oregon University.
I plan on helping future Senators with their developing and enhancing their leadership skills by mediating good discussion during Senate meetings and provide excellent trainings to Senators so that they can properly represent students of WOU. I hope to incite a passion to lead, to advocate, and be someone that students of WOU feel comfortable having be their representative.
Students should vote for me because I have the experience from two years in Senate to know how things are run and dealt with as well as have ideas for change within the Senate President position.Things I would like to change would be to give more responsibilities to the other leaders within Senate- the Parlimentarian and Pro Tempore to help develop their own leadership skills, to have more legislation written that could change the campus and its policies that would benefit the student population, and help make ASWOU more cohesive as a branch head by getting Senators to work with cabinet members to write legislation for items cabinet members are facing or working towards.

Judicial Administrator
Logan Doerfler
At the age of 17 I enlisted in the Oregon Army National Guard (ORARNG) to protect the interests and rights of Oregon citizens. Six years later as an Non-Commissioned Officer (NCO) my sense of duty has only grown as has my passion to serve my community. If I am elected I will maintain the integrity of our school’s systems and regulations. This will be done by building positive relationships and holding all parties accountable to the standards set in place. NCOs are the backbone of the Army, it is our duty to maintain the standards of the Army when others do not.
The ORARNG has put me in positions of oversight both stateside and overseas, my current role as a team leader can be an example. As team leader I must familiarize myself with the rules and policies of my commander and the Army so that I can educate and enforce my soldiers accordingly. I believe my distinctive record, ability to think of my feet, work ethic, capability to take information and make appropriate decisions make me an excellent candidate for this position.

Senator
Roger Deleon
I am running for ASWOU Senate. I am running for this position to better establish a voice amongst the student government of the typical college student. I am the best candidate for Senate because I know what it’s like to transfer from a Community College to a 4-year school. I have been a student at WOU on and off for the last 7 years, and though a lot has changed at WOU over that timeframe, there’s still a bit that can improved. During the years I was at WOU, I was involved with clubs and organizations on campus such as Safe Zone, Student Activities Board, Triangle Alliance, Conversation Partners and the Student Conduct Committee.
If elected, one of the things I hope to accomplish is to get a non-voting student representative onto the Faculty Senate, which oversees any changes or improvements to department courses, so that there’s a students voice on course curriculum changes. Having a students voice and opinion on changes for courses is one of the most beneficial and pertinent things I feel needs to be implemented. Though students might not know a particular departments information as well as a professor or instructor to make much of a decision, when it comes to changing how many credits a course should be, having the voice from a student’s perspective is necessary.
Western has been known to be very diverse, friendly and welcoming to everyone, especially with the International Student, Minority, and First-Generation Student populations. As a Student Senator, I want continue to have Western be that diverse college and community for years to and, and I want to be that person to represent them all and have a voice on the senate for those groups that needed to express their concerns or opinions.

IFC Member
Eric Frey
As a Retired US Army Master Sergeant that worked in Logistics & Supply Management I have worked with multi-million dollar operating budgets and dealt with managing budget shortfalls. I realize that most university students have a limited budget and I want to address the rising costs at WOU. As a member of the IFC I would work towards making sure that all IFC funded Clubs and Organizations are fairly represented and to limit expenses to necessary budget requirements to try to keep the Incidental Funds paid by every student to a reasonable level.

Bidding a fond farewell

Sam Dunaway | News Editor

Debbie Diehm

Assistant to the Vice President for Student Affairs/National Student Exchange Coordinator

Years at Western: 30 years and 10 months

Favorite part of working at Western: “The students. You are all so clever and smart. You are all gracious, too.  Not a day goes by without hearing about students volunteering locally or globally or students fund-raising for others in need.”

Plans after retirement: “Doing what I want to do! Of course, projects at home, spending time with family and traveling.”

Photo by: Paul F. Davis

Angela Barry

Office Manager at Public Safety

Years at Western: 14 years

Favorite part of working at Western: “Working with the students here. I have made some good friends!”

Plans after retirement: “Sleeping in. I am going to be doing some work on my house. Other than that: enjoy life!”

Photo courtesy of: Angela Barry

Sue DeNoyer

General Advisor and Office Coordinator for the Criminal Justice Department

Years at Western: 24 years and seven months

Favorite part of working at Western: “By far, the highlight of my time at (Western) has been working directly with students and getting to see that I could make a positive impact on their success here.”

Plans after retirement: “The first plan is to delete the ‘work day’ alarm from my phone! Then I plan to tackle a mountain of tasks around my home, do some traveling and spend as much time as I can with my granddaughter, family and friends.”

Photo courtesy of: Sue DeNoyer

Kevin Hughes

Landscape Maintenance Coordinator

Years at Western: 28 years

Favorite part of working at Western: “I really appreciate having the landscape look as best as possible for all people to enjoy.”

Plans after retirement: “Working at home on our farm, projects at home, working with the homeless at Union Gospel Mission in Salem, having fun with my kids and grandkids and an extra cup of coffee in the morning!”

Photo courtesy of: Kevin Hughes

Bob Hautala

Associate Professor, Division of Health and Exercise Science

Years at Western: 14 years

Favorite part of working at Western: “My interactions with students — in classes, going to athletic events, theater presentations, concerts, etc. and serving on several university committees that had a significant student presence.”

Plans after retirement: “Nothing specific yet, other than to continue to live in Oregon and find ways to stay engaged in life and all that it has to offer.”

Photo courtesy of: Bob Hautala

John Henslee

Trades Maintenance Coordinator for Housing

Years at Western: 41 years as a student, student employee and full-time employee

Favorite part of working at Western: “The best part of working here is the people, I have had a great crew over the years — it’s the best I’ve ever had right now — and have always enjoyed working with the student population whether it be as residents or employees in our shop.”

Plans after retirement: “I am planning on getting a lot more involved in my church, tying lots of flies, painting and drawing lots of pictures, making furniture, making knives, picking my guitar … and a bunch of other things I have been too busy with work to do.”

Photo courtesy of: John Henslee

Willy Lerum

Business Manager for Student Engagement

Years at Western: 30 years

Favorite part of working at Western: “Interacting with the students and making long lasting friendships with folks on campus.”

Plans after retirement: “I’m taking a couple of months off to just relax … after that, we’ll see what happens.”

Photo courtesy of: Willy Lerum

 

Contact the author at journalnews@wou.edu

 

Honoring diverse graduates

Sam Dunaway | News Editor

While many graduates sit in eager anticipation for the June 16 commencement ceremony, two additional graduation ceremonies highlight inclusion and diversity on Western’s campus: Black Graduation and Lavender Graduation.

The 8th annual Lavender Graduation honors graduating members of the LGBTQ+ community, celebrates their accomplishments and acknowledges struggles that some have faced. During the ceremony, students will receive rainbow graduation cords and will have an opportunity to speak about their journey at Western.

The 5th annual Black Graduation recognizes black and African-American graduates. This ceremony allows these students to share their success with their friends and family while celebrating the hard work that earned them a college degree.

American Sign Language Studies major Shanna Thomas is participating in both graduation ceremonies to celebrate all aspects of her individuality.

“I’m participating because this is a time to celebrate my other identities,” Thomas expressed. “I am not only a student who worked extremely hard for my Bachelor’s, but I am also a black, biracial, mix, bisexual, cisgender female who had to overcome different obstacles because of those identities.”

Thomas believes that these ceremonies are important because they provide an opportunity to show how much can be accomplished in a world that does not give the same advantages to everyone. She explained: “These are important ceremonies because it gives these communities the opportunity to celebrate themselves openly and unapologetically for who they are and what they have had to overcome to get to where they are today.”

All students are welcome to attend Lavender Graduation on June 14 at 7 p.m. in the Columbia room and Black Graduation on June 15 at 3 p.m. in the Willamette room.

 

Contact the author at journalnews@wou.edu

Photo by: Paul F. Davis

Upgrades coming to campus this summer

Sam Dunaway | News Editor

Students sticking in Monmouth this summer might notice various construction projects happening around campus. From building renovations to complete relocations, read on to stay updated on changes coming up this summer.

 

Food Pantry

The Food Pantry is leaving its previous location in APSC and moving to the former Oregon Military Academy building. The relocation will occur near the end of spring term and the pantry will remain open during the summer. Food Pantry Director and senior psychology major Ashley Biles believes this new location will be beneficial, saying: “As we have grown we have realized the new for a new and bigger location — especially if we want to start having other items for our patrons such as clothing … I think that the biggest benefit will be having that larger space in order to keep growing the pantry. And to have a space that is more accessible for our food deliveries and for patrons to easily find us.”

 

Child Development Center

The Childhood Development Center, currently located in Todd Hall, will be moving to the University Park Conference Center. This building is newer than Todd Hall and can be completely locked, providing more safety to the children under its care. A dynamic outdoor classroom is being constructed from the large outdoor area and a more convenient drop-off location will benefit families, volunteers and children. The program itself is also growing, as Director of the Child Development Center Carey Gilbert explains: “We will also be expanding our services to include a toddler classroom for children 18 months to three years of age. This classroom will be in addition to our current programming of two preschool classrooms for children ages three to five years of age and our Afterschool Enrichment Program for children in kindergarten up to 10 years of age.

 

Natural Science

The Natural Science building is undergoing renovations beginning in 2018 and extending through 2019. Updates include repairing the heating and cooling system, updating bathrooms with the inclusion of a gender neutral bathroom, new showers and eyewash stations, renovations to the third floor greenhouse and general paint and lighting updates. Many professors’s offices will be temporarily relocated to the former College of Education building while work begins on the basement and second floor this summer. Summer classes will be moved to DeVolder Family Science Center and the basement and first floor will be open as usual in the fall.

 

Stonewall Center and SAB

The Student Activities Board will be occupying part of the previous Wolf Express location in the Werner University Center. An additional conference room, named the Metolius room, will also fill that space. The first floor space vacated by SAB will be filled by the Stonewall Center. 2018-2019 Stonewall Center Coordinator Susannah Doepken explained: “Having our own space will prove to be very beneficial in many ways. A lot of times, we have felt like our space is small and could be used in more productive and helpful ways if there was more space for more people to interact in the center at the same time. Now, with a bigger space, we will be able to offer more space for more people, growing the center as much as we can.”

 

Contact the author at journalnews@wou.edu

 

Photo by: Paul F. Davis

Faculty bargaining centers around salary

Sam Dunaway | News Editor

Western administrators and faculty convened for the first time this year on Jan. 23 as part of the faculty bargaining process, a series of meetings where the faculty contract is negotiated between the Western Oregon University Federation of Teachers Union (WOUFT) and Western’s administration. The groups met periodically throughout winter and spring term, with the last session scheduled for June 21.

The faculty’s three-year contract, extending until 2020, was, in its conception, agreed to be re-opened and certain articles negotiated every year. The articles that manage salary and faculty development were re-opened for negotiation, and the faculty decided to review an article outlining the assignment of duties for faculty members.

As it stands, faculty are required to spend a certain number of credit hours teaching every term, but another part of the job description is service to the institution by taking part in various committees, senate bodies and advising students.

“Our concern was that in the last couple years we’ve been asked to do more and more institutional service, which is important and it’s part of shared governance, but it’s not teaching, and that’s the primary thing that faculty come here to do,” explained bargaining team chair Dr. Emily Plec. “We’ve found that the institutional service load is really taking time away from teaching for many faculty and making them feel as though they’re not giving their students the full attention that they’d like to give.”

WOUFT initially proposed a reduction in the teaching load from 36 credits to 24, to help offset some of the extra work many faculty members were doing to keep up with their institutional service projects. When the administration rejected this proposal, the conversation turned to increasing salaries.

“It’s begun to boil down to salary,” Plec explained. “If (the administration) can’t give us relief in our working week, we expect a better salary offer than the one that we’re seeing to compensate us equitably.”

Western has historically fallen behind peer institutions in salary. Now, after the revelation of the nearly $3 million savings in the university budget, many WOUFT members, like non-tenured track instructor Karla Hale, wish to see that money invested in both tenured and non-tenured faculty.

“(Western) salaries fall far below other local comparative community colleges and universities,” Hale explained. “Currently many of our non-tenure track faculty have to work part-time jobs — often at other colleges — to supplement their wages. I currently teach at Chemeketa part-time and get paid more per credit to teach there as a part time instructor.”

The administration team has offered tenured faculty an average increase in salary of 4.2 percent for 2018-2019 and 3.7 percent for 2019-2020. Additionally, non-tenured faculty have been offered a 3 percent salary increase for 2018-2019 and a 2.25 percent increase for 2019-2020. Carson Campbell, Associate Vice President and Deputy General Counsel, believes this is a generous increase for the resources that the university has.

“Over the two-year period, these percentage increases outpace the recent historical data on national average in faculty wage increases by a fair bit,” Campbell described. “Additionally, (Western) has offered a 25 percent increase, $50,000 annually, to the dollars invested in faculty development. All told, the University’s proposal carries a cost of nearly $1 million in 2018-2019 and $1.5 million in 2019-2020.”

WOUFT president Scott Beaver hopes that the administration provides both tenured and non-tenured faculty with competitive and fair compensation.

“No one gets into teaching at any level to get rich, but our faculty works very hard to provide (Western) students with a top-notch education and should be compensated accordingly for their diligent and thoughtful efforts,” Beaver said. “Our workload has increased but our pay has not kept up. We would like to see management put more of the millions they recently uncovered toward both non-tenure track and tenure track faculty salaries to help us attract and retain the best faculty for our students.”

 

Contact the author at journalnews@wou.edu

Photo by: Paul F. Davis

A day for reflection

Sam Dunaway | News Editor

While the long weekend brought sunshine and a break from classes, the Memorial Day holiday provided a time to reflect on the individuals that have passed away while serving in the military.

Sophomore business and psychology major Cole Hendren explained, “It’s just a day of appreciation to appreciate those who are out there fighting for our country and fighting for our rights.” Hendren is the current Communications Officer for the WOU Student Veterans Association.

Western’s SVA chapter honored the holiday in several ways. On May 19, a group of club members gathered at Belcrest Memorial Park in Salem, Oregon to clean the headstones of veterans. The club aimed to clean as many headstones as possible in preparation for visitors on Memorial Day.

“It was very humbling,” said Hendren, who participated in the headstone cleaning. “It was a very surreal experience.”

May 29 brought the third annual Memorial Day Banquet hosted by the club. One of SVA’s biggest events was made even bigger this year by keynote speaker and Student Veterans of America CEO and President Jared Lyon, who oversees nearly 1,500 SVA chapters across the nation. The banquet was open to all students and community members, regardless of involvement in the military, to honor Memorial Day.

Junior exercise science major and 2018-2019 club president Stephanie Mahoney believes that everyone should set aside some time to remember those who have died serving our country.

“I want people to know that aside from the BBQs, shopping sales, and all the other things that happen during Memorial Day, this day means something more,” explained Mahoney. “So take some time to understand and honor what this day is really about because those people that have died serving our country are someone’s family or friend and they are no longer here because of their sacrifice.”

 

Contact the author at journalnews@wou.edu

Photo by: Caity Healy

Bringing senior prom to the Monmouth community

Sam Dunaway | News Editor

Sparkling prom dresses and classy tuxedos paid a visit to the Monmouth Senior Center on May 26. The second annual sock hop, hosted by Western’s Psychology Club and Gerontology Club, gave seniors the opportunity to dress up and hit the dance floor.

The theme for this year’s dance was ‘Spring Fling Senior Prom,’ encouraging community members to break out their prom attire and join in on the fun. Of course, a prom is incomplete without the crowning of prom king and queen, as well as tiaras and crowns for the winners.

Haley Morris, Psychology Club president, was involved in planning the Valentine’s Day sock hop in 2017. The organization was looking to get more involved with the senior center and jumped at the opportunity to help the Monmouth community.

“It’s cool getting more college students in the community and not just on campus,” Morris commented. She explained that many students go through college focusing on how their education will benefit themselves and not necessarily how they can help others.

“Maybe they see Monmouth as being pretty small and they don’t see a way of benefiting the community, but there’s a lot of different ways that people can reach out and the senior center is one of those ways,” said Morris.

Last year’s sock hop was such a success that the Gerontology Club decided to get involved in the event. Lila Gardner, co-president of the Gerontology Club at Western, is a gerontology major, herself, and has always enjoyed working with older adults. When elected president of the club, she had several goals that she wanted the organization to accomplish.

“I wanted us to be really involved with the Monmouth community,” Gardner explained. The club hosted Careers in Aging Week in April and several events educating the community about aging and working with older adults. Since then, the organization has been focused on outreaching to the Monmouth community.

“This term has been really focused on interacting with our older aging community and really making sure that we’re creating a better quality of life,” said Gardner. “There’s some places in Oregon that doesn’t have a senior center and (don’t) focus on quality of life for older adults and that’s something I think our club officers are really adamant about.”

The sock hop is just one way that the Psychology and Gerontology Clubs are reaching out and using their fields of study to benefit the community.

Morris expressed, “I think it’s becoming a community event and people are looking forward to it so I really hope it continues.”

 

Contact the author at journalnews@wou.edu

Photo by: Paul F. Davis

Fostering support, progress and hope

Sam Dunaway | News Editor

Teal blue ribbons adorn the trees around Western’s campus, bringing to light a community that is often overlooked: foster students. The WOU Fostering Success initiative is hosting Foster Care Awareness Month throughout May to help inform the campus community about foster students and provide support for individuals that have been a part of the foster care system.

Senior Sean Stephen is a foster youth peer mentor with WOU Fostering Success. With a personal history in the foster care system, Stephen strives to reach out to prospective Western foster students and ensure that current students have the resources they need to be successful.

“Coming from a foster care system into college is a pretty big transition for most students, and for foster care students it’s a really big transition because a lot of foster care children don’t have the support that they need,” explained Stephen. “That’s one area that I want to be there for them where they have, if they need it, support and advocate to what they need to help them be successful.”

The initiative was established in 2015 by Dr. Emily Plec, a professor of communication studies. She was impacted by students at Western that had experienced the foster care system and felt that there was more she could do to support them. Teaming up with a representative from Polk Youth Services and the previously established Wolves Fostering Hope club, Plec introduced one of the first initiatives to provide resources for foster students on campus, help them navigate financial aid and give general support that they may not get from other people in their lives.

“We tend to assume that everybody’s got a family,” Plec acknowledged, whether that’s someone to provide emotional support, financial stability or just a place to stay during holidays. “There was a group of students that that just wasn’t the case for.”

Help with advising, learning about federal financial aid benefits and even putting together finals week survival kits can enhance a foster student’s life at Western. Plec commented that the initiative is “just trying to do the things that families do that are the intangible parts of just getting you through.”

WOU Fostering Success planned several events during May for Foster Care Awareness Month including a socks and shoes drive for foster youth in the community, educational tabling and a duffle bag and suitcase collection, as part of the No More Trash Bags movement.

“In the foster care system, usually when you’re being transitioned from home to home, all you have is a black trash bag full of your stuff,” Stephen explained. “We’re trying to give foster kids backpacks and luggage and suitcases and duffle bags so they don’t have to be carrying around a black trash bag because that’s really dehumanizing.”

One of the most recent accomplishments of the initiative is creating a Preview Day focused on high school foster youth in Oregon. The event on May 25 is open to all foster youth interested in attending Western and includes a campus tour, assistance from the Student Success and Advising Office on transfer articulations and a luncheon featuring a panel of foster students sharing their experiences at Western.

“It’s just a whole day to meet students who are making the dream of college happen,” Plec expressed. And, for the first time ever, graduating foster students will be presented with graduation honor cords during the luncheon. Stephen, who is involved in the Wolves Fostering Success club that made this possible, believes this is a big achievement for foster students.

Stephen explained the difficulties that he faced coming to Western as a transfer student from the foster care system and not knowing anyone in the school. He encourages everyone to reach out to people that may need a hand.

“If you see somebody and you know that they might be struggling, just reach out and say ‘hey, how are you?’” Stephen suggested. “Don’t let somebody slip into the cracks.”

To learn more about the WOU Fostering Success initiative and Foster Care Awareness Month, visit wou.edu/foster.

 

Contact the author at journalnews@wou.edu

Photo by: Paul F. Davis

Latino culture takes the spotlight at Western

Sam Dunaway | News Editor

The sound of Latin music and the smell of tacos filled the air outside of the Werner University Center on May 18. Multicultural Student Union’s annual event, Nuestra Fiesta Latina, encouraged students and community members to come together and experience Latino culture with a variety events and activities throughout the week.

The union’s collaboration with several organizations around campus transformed the typical day-long event into a week-long celebration. The week’s events kicked off with dance lessons instructed by members of the Omega Delta Phi fraternity, a Lip Sync Battle hosted by the Kappa Delta Chi sorority and stand-up comedian Jesus Trejo was sponsored by the Student Activities Board for a Thursday night of laughter.

Friday brought the traditional Nuestra Fiesta Latina day event with food, music, piñatas and a jalepeño-eating contest on the WUC plaza. The celebration continued during Freebie Friday with Lotería — a traditional Latino game similar to bingo — and pan dulce. The evening brought dinner and entertainment by Karol Posadas, a tribute artist that portrays the popular Mexican-American artist, Selena.

Sophomore early childhood education major Blanca Miranda-Aguilar worked behind the scenes to plan for Nuestra Fiesta Latina as MSU’s Public Relations officer. Miranda-Aguilar experienced the festivities of Nuestra Fiesta Latina in 2017 and was eager to step up as co-coordinator this spring.

Miranda-Aguilar noted that MSU strives to represent various cultures with annual events such as Women of Culture, Out and Proud, Dia de los Muertos and the Pow Wow.

“It’s just a way to show respect toward that culture,” said Miranda-Aguilar. She explained that many people view cultures through a stereotypical lens, and events like Nuestra Fiesta Latina aim to break those stereotypes and educate the community about a diverse array of cultures.

As a part of the Latino culture herself, Miranda-Aguilar is excited to have an event like this on campus.

“We’re being seen and recognized,” she expressed.

Miranda-Aguilar encourages everyone to venture out of their comfort zone and explore all the events and activities planned by MSU.

 

Contact the author at journalnews@wou.edu

Photo by: Paul F. Davis

Encouraging unity, celebrating diversity

Sam Dunaway | News Editor

“Diversity” is a term that covers a broad range of topics including race, gender, ethnicity, age, religion, socioeconomic status and other components of a person’s identity. ASWOU aimed to educate the Western community on these topics during Diversity Week.

“I think a lot of people get divisive on things that involve politics, race, class — those are all big issues,” said ASWOU Director of Equity Natalie Dean. “But I think people get really hung up on the things that divide us, and I think that this was just to highlight the ways that we are all together. And not to ignore those differences, but rather to address them and recognize that they do happen.”

The week-long event, spanning from May 14-18, was hosted by ASWOU and involved several student-led organizations on campus, including: Unidos, Student Veterans of America and the D.R.E.A.M. club. Each club provided their own unique perspective and informed Western students about different aspects of diversity.

Unidos and MEChA teamed up to host a film screening of the movie “Food Chains” which discussed the working conditions of migrant farmworkers in Florida, the D.R.E.A.M. club presented information about the disabled community and accessibility on Western’s campus and the Student Veterans of America organized an open house in the Veterans Resource Center that encouraged students to learn about the various branches of the military.

ASWOU worked with the Oregon Student Association to provide workshops centered around diversity including Intro to Queer and Trans Justice, Intro to Disability Justice and Understanding Your Privilege.

Western’s Food Pantry hosted a cooking tutorial, led by former Foodservice Director Karen Nelles. The presentation demonstrated basic baking and knife skills as well as nutritional meals to make in a mason jar. Additionally, senior community health major Paula Waldron discussed topics of food insecurity and socioeconomic status to tie the event back to Diversity Week.

“Food insecurity affects millions of people in the United States — with college students being no exception,” Waldron explained. “Addressing food insecurity is important because hunger has the ability to negatively impact other areas in life and, as a result, may diminish one’s quality of life.”

Dean believes that Diversity Week provides a good opportunity for students to ask questions that they might not otherwise ask and explore the various topics of diversity.

“Learning can be scary, especially dealing with topics like this,” said Dean. “People don’t really want to talk about it … (Diversity Week) is a space that’s inclusive and is open to educating people in a way that’s not demeaning.”

Contact the author at journalnews@wou.edu

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