Editor’s note: This story has been updated to clarify that the chair of the budget committee is for the senate not the Student Fee Committee.
Eliza Eckman and Shawn Durr are running for Oregon State University’s student body president and vice president for the 2025-2026 school year. Ballots were sent out to students last week and close for voting on Feb. 28.
Eckman is a graduate student studying environmental arts and humanity who has served as chair of the budgets committee for the senate and as a member of ASOSU’s senate for two years. Durr is a third year bio health science major who has served as a member of senate for one year.
Some of the main goals Eckman and Durr are bringing to their campaign include outreach with all students on campus, proper spending of student fees and building sustainability initiatives on campus.
Outreach and polling of students in order to get an idea of what the student body wants from their elected members is a large portion of their campaign. “Another thing I personally wanted to see was more outreach from ASOSU,” said Durr.
Both candidates brought up increased events for students to get to know their student government. They both believe strongly that student engagement is how the student government will be able to thrive. Hosting more events and providing more platforms, such as polls, for students to voice their opinions is how they intend to make that happen.
Additionally, they plan to reach out to clubs and organizations to involve underrepresented groups on campus.
Sustainability was another major point in their campaign. Eckman and Durr again highlighted the importance of student input when it comes to campus sustainability. Introducing a sustainability contest for other students to engage in is one of their ideas for reaching out to those on campus.
“OSU set a goal to be carbon neutral in 2025 and we’re not really close to that goal at all,” Eckman said. “One of the ideas we have is like a campus greenhouse where people could go through there year long. And it could be like a mixed use study space too.”
Eckman and Durr both agreed that the biggest issue facing students right now is the cost of living. While they acknowledge that they have no control over cost of living in Corvallis, they said they want to ensure that the university is spending money where the students want it to be spent.
Under the same argument, Durr mentioned that since 2020, enrollment numbers have increased every year, leading to crowded housing for many students. A concern that Durr had was that even with many doubles becoming triples in the dorms, the cost of living on campus is increasing, saying that “there’s some kind of disparity there.”
“If you’re gonna pay thirty- or forty-thousand dollars to go here, you ought to be getting your money’s worth,” said Durr.
A successful term for Eckman and Durr would include seeing their goals accomplished. From more feedback on ASOSU, to more student engagement, to increasing student wages, these two candidates want to remind students that these goals are tangible with their experience.
Editor’s note: The Daily Barometer is working to get interviews with each candidate for presidential tickets and SFC chair.
