Charlotte O’Brien and Zane Olivadotti-Peters have decided to run in this year’s Associated Students of Oregon State University presidential election.
Presidential candidate O’Brien, a third-year political science and international studies student with a minor in history, said her work with the ASOSU has prepared her for the role.
“Having been involved with ASOSU last year, I kind of got a good scope of the internal workings,” O’Brien said. “I worked very closely with the president last year. I liked the work. I was on the executive branch, and from that experience, I got a good sense of how ASOSU can make changes on campus.”
VP candidate Olivadotti-Peters, also a third-year student who is majoring in english with a minor in political science, said his major gives him an edge in the race.
“I feel like I can do a fantastic job of taking what other people say and expressing it in a way that’s actually very effective, because good writing can go a very long way, and good reading comprehension can go a very, very long way,” he said.
He went on to say these two skills have created a framework for him to be able to express the needs of OSU students in student government.
Having been in similar circles for years, O’Brien said she and Olivadotti-Peters are also working together to form a United Nations Association club.
“That’s why I texted Zane (about being her VP),” she said. “Because I knew that he was someone who’d put the work in, and he really cared.”
O’Brien and Olivadotti-Peters said they are running with the motivations of the average student in mind.
“The average student doesn’t know what’s going on in their student government,” Olivadotti-Peters said. “The average student doesn’t know what the student government even is. Probably the average student might not feel like they have the opportunity to reach out and use their power as an individual to make a change on campus.”
Aside from reaching out to students and educating them on the student government, the candidates said they are campaigning to address several issues at OSU which they believe to be pressing. These included: starting new programs, increasing funds to clubs and organizations, students’ mental health and affordability on campus.
“I think that’s what every campaign has talked about, and all campaigns in the past have definitely brought up,” O’Brien said.”It’s hard to be a student. It’s hard enough to get through your classes when you’re thinking about paying rent, paying for your dorms, paying for food, it’s not easy.
According to O’Brien, affordability, making sure tuition stays low and that students feel safe are the first steps to getting people more involved on campus.
“We really want to prioritize keeping students safe on campus from federal threats,” she said.”We want to make sure that international students, and students from in-state and out-of-state are protected … Student Legal Services, we learned, has DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) application assistance as well as immigrant protection, so pointing them in the direction of those things, but also putting up safeguards for them so that they feel as safe on campus as possible.”
O’Brien and Olivadotti-Peters are a part of the political slate Reinforce the Dam, which also includes Senate candidate Lara Valentina Artigas and Student Fee Committee Chair candidate Jennifer McMillan.
The 2026 ASOSU Elections Packet defines a slate as “a group of candidates that run in multi-seat or multi-position elections on a common platform. The common platform may be because the candidates are all members of a political group, have the same or similar policies, or some other reason.”
According to a post on the slate’s Instagram, Reinforce the Dam is about making sure every student feels “seen, heard, and respected.”
“We just want to help the students on campus,” Olivadotti-Peters said. “And all the campaigns say the same thing, that they all care about student voices. And it’s true … The fact that our motivations are the same allows us to really be efficient and very cooperative, and it allows us to be good leaders and just reach a wider range of students.”
