ASOSU Vice President Brett Morgan seeks to better students’ futures 

One thing has remained constant for Brett Morgan during his college career—using his power for good.

“I’ve been fortunate enough to be in few positions where I have power,” said Morgan, the current Vice President of the Associated Students of Oregon State University. “I’ve tried my hardest to do the best things with that power, and do what’s the right thing in my eyes.”

Morgan’s passion for student government slowly formulated throughout his college career. He first wanted to study engineering, stemming from his love of building and creating.

“I loved Legos and Kinects—I still love them, and when my cousins come over I’ll play with them,” Morgan said. “Building things was always really fun to me. It changed though when I realized I was only okay, but not great, at math and science.”

After tabling the idea of becoming an engineer, Morgan became involved with environmental sciences his freshmen year at OSU, but soon realized his major would be more effective when paired with economics.

“Environmental science and economics are compatible, and economics study how you make decisions for the best for the environment on a huge scale,” Morgan said.

Morgan soon discovered a passion for politics when he took the U-Engage course Introduction to Oregon Politics, leading him to found College Democrats at OSU his freshmen year, and later moving into the position of ASOSU Executive Director of Government relations a year later.

“I wanted to make sure Brett was on our team because I knew he was going to have a bright future at ASOSU, and he demonstrated that,” said Taylor Sarman, former ASOSU president. “He was a key player in helping us to get more funding for higher education, and was integral for helping us register voters.”

Morgan took a break from ASOSU his sophomore year to serve as Vice President of his fraternity, Phi Kappa Psi, as well as joining the campus club Oregon Climate and tutoring economics.

Although Morgan thought he had finished his involvement with ASOSU, the remainder of his OSU career set into motion when he was approached by Rachel Grisham at the end of last fall term, asking him if he wanted to run as her Vice President.

“When she asked me I told her that I’d think about it, but I think I knew right when she asked me that I wanted to say yes,” Morgan said. “I didn’t want to seem too eager.”

Morgan eventually accepted Grisham’s offer, and over the remainder of the year the candidates geared for election.

“Up until two months before we ran, I had no intention of running. It just fell into my lap,” Morgan said. “I’m really grateful it did happen.”

According to Anesat Leon-Guerrero, ASOSU Executive Director of Diversity Programs, working for close to four months in Morgan’s new position has allowed him to explore his view of the world and how that affects his decisions.

“I appreciate that Brett acknowledges the privileges that he holds as a white, cisgendered male,” Leon-Guerrero said. “Every time he talks about a certain issue, whether political, environmental or economical, he states that his perception is coming from his experience as a white man.”

Morgan hopes to extend ASOSU’s ability to be a resource for students through their platform, which focuses on inclusivity, affordability and community safety. The student government will also be paying more attention to its 1.5 million dollar budget, and has already been able to incur about $40,000 in budgetary savings this year.

“We are really trying to make sure every dollar we spend is being spent in the best way possible,” Morgan said. “Those things are the most tangible things we can work on now to better years to come.”

Looking towards the future has always been one of Morgan’s strengths, according to Sarman.

“Brett has a really good understanding of futuristic thinking, and thinking about what he and an organization does now is going to have ramifications for the future,” Sarman said.

Through his work at ASOSU, his fraternity and just being an OSU community member, Morgan strives to better the campus as a whole—even after he graduates.

“I want to leave a legacy that any student can walk in through ASOSU’s doors or any other doors and feel like they have an impact,” Morgan said.