The year 2025 was a contentious one for Oregon State University’s student government, including a complete shutdown lasting several months and sudden terminations of its leadership.
Here is a rundown of events.
In a Feb. 25 letter, former Associated Students of Oregon State University’s Vice President Zach Kowash resigned from his position, citing that ASOSU was a “deeply toxic work environment” and his “loss of faith in the student government’s ability to enact meaningful change.”
The letter described ASOSU’s internal culture as being filled with “the cruelest people I’ve met in my life.”
Kowash said his tenure has fundamentally changed his outlook and had eroded his belief in the ability of people to address pressing issues facing our time.
On Feb. 28, after a discussion with then-President of ASOSU Audrey Schlotter, Vice Provost for Student Affairs Dan Larson paused operations of ASOSU, effectively putting it into shutdown and under revision.
Larson said ASOSU needed to be reworked from the ground up before it could continue operations.
“The university cannot allow coworkers to push the boundaries of civility, respect in the workplace, and human decency to the point that peers and colleagues are forced to choose between service to the university and their personal well-being,” Larson said.
According to Schlotter, Kowash’s resignation was the tipping point in the final decision, claiming Kowash embodied “the good of OSU.”
On June 1, Kayla Ramirez replaced Schlotter as president with Masha Mogylesky becoming the new vice president.
Despite the shutdown, the formal inauguration remained unchanged, however, the transition between administrations was slow and constrained.
“Our transition only received funding and authorization to work in May, which is later than in prior years. We have also been unable to post jobs for our incoming staff and begin preparations for achieving our goals in office as early as we would like,” Ramirez said.
However, after only three months into their term, Ramirez was terminated from their position as president.
In an e-mail from Vice President of University Relations and Marketing Rob Odom, he said, “While OSU does not comment on individual students due to federal privacy laws, all ASOSU student employees and officers must meet certain eligibility requirements outlined in the ASOSU Student Government Employment & Operations Manual posted to maintain employment,” Odom said. “Requirements are outlined on page 12 of the document.”
In a previous interview Ramirez expressed the possibility of being terminated by university administration.
“I would rather be a president who is known… for accepting the consequences because I did the right thing,” Ramirez said. “I know that when I walk into these rooms, when I speak prominently, I carry that risk of retaliation, of being removed from office, of losing my job, but ultimately, as long as I serve the student body to the best of my ability, that is what is most important to me.”
In response to concerns about retaliation, Odom said, “with respect to claims of retaliation, retaliation is prohibited by OSU policy, including against those speaking out or filing a report, complaint or concern with an official OSU office.”
According to an Oct. 14 letter to The Daily Barometer, Ramirez said the policies cited in their termination didn’t exist until six days before their termination.
“These policies were brought into effect without warning, without the consent of both parties to the original contract, and to date have only been applied to one student,” Ramirez said.
After their termination, Ramirez administered the Oath of Office to Mogylevsky, who then became President. However, as they were not elected for the role, Mogylevsky instead gave themselves the title of “Provisional President” and vowed it was their number one priority to have Ramirez reinstated.
In an Oct. 1 email, Larson lifted the remaining restrictions from ASOSU, saying that the student government’s first priority should be to pass a new constitution.
The lifting of the shutdown means ASOSU can return to student government duties such as holding meetings, maintaining the student fee budget and filling any vacant positions.
The new Senate passed their first bill of the year Oct. 15. The bill consisted of new statutes that allowed the Student Fee Committee vice chair to act as chair while the position is vacant. There has not been a SFC chair since Dylan Perfect was terminated from the position during the summer for “misconduct.”
As of Jan. 8, the SFC has Saegis Abbott elected.
In their last meeting of the fall term, the Senate passed a second bill which will reallocate ASOSU funds to send students to the 2026 Washington-Oregon Higher Education Sustainability Conference.
As of the most recent meeting, the constitution is still in revision phase.
