After months of revision, the new constitution for Oregon State University’s student government has been added to this year’s ballot, resolving a stipulation for unpausing student government after last year’s closure.
Passed at last week’s Associated Students of Oregon State University Senate meeting and signed by ASOSU President Masha Mogylevsky on Friday, the constitution contains key changes from previous years.
According to ASOSU Senate Pro Tempore Dawson Yang, changes include the “light editing” of some definitions and the reorganization, simplification and rewording of articles and sections.
“The language for Vetoes has been improved to fit how they are ruled in the democratic rules of order and most other governing bodies, requiring a (two-thirds) vote of the senate,” Yang said in an email. “(The) previous constitution required ‘two thirds of the membership of the Senate,’ which presented several issues.”
Yang said Article I, which delegated a number of Senate seats to form a committee dedicated to collecting the Mandatory Incidental Fee, was removed from the new constitution.
According to Student Government Committee Chair and ASOSU Senator Hannah Barger, the section was removed because it was language leftover from a time when ASOSU didn’t have the SFC. With the SFC, the section became obsolete, so it was removed.
Among the more significant constitutional changes come in Article IX, which details the requirements for holding office in ASOSU.
Changes include the addition of students having “good academic standing with OSU, including maintaining a cumulative 2.0 GPA” and “student conduct standing that is not deferred suspension, suspension, or expulsion.”
The article goes on to state, “Failure to satisfy the credit hours, enrollment, or standing requirements as of the end of any term shall render one ineligible to complete their term of office.”
After having been put on pause last year by OSU Vice Provost for Student Affairs Dan Larson for reportedly having a “deeply toxic work environment,” ASOSU had its shutdown lifted last October with the expectation ASOSU members would begin working on a new constitution.
“In short, (Larson) initially required that a new constitution be adopted before ASOSU operations could resume,” Mogylevsky said in a Feb. 22 memo. “At first, this was going to be imposed without Senate or student vote, with a consultant drafted constitution. After advocacy from (former ASOSU President Kayla Ramirez) and I, the process was instead brought before the Senate in the form of a bill.”
However, in an October interview with Larson, he clarified there is nothing he had in place which restricted ASOSU from functioning as it wished.
“There is nothing that I have in place that restricts ASOSU from proceeding with committee meetings, writing legislation, even passing legislation, but they do need to have a Constitution in order to pass that legislation,” Larson said. “That’s not a condition I’ve placed that ‘you need to have the Constitution completed’… (I’m just saying) I don’t know how you would pass legislation if you don’t have a Constitution.”
According to Mogylevsky, following involvement from state legislators, Larson resumed ASOSU operations even though a new constitution hadn’t yet been passed.
When the student government came back, there was some confusion about whether or not they could operate without a constitution at all, but Yang clarified at a Senate meeting that they were allowed to work under a previously ratified constitution while they worked to draft and ratify a new one.
The ASOSU Student Government Committee spent months editing a draft of the new constitution, and after edits based on feedback from the Senate, the final constitution passed, just in time to be added to this year’s election ballot.
If ratified by student voters, the constitution will go into effect on June 1, the same day as elected officials will start their terms in ASOSU.
Ballots for the 2026 ASOSU elections are currently open. Students can vote using this link.
