At Portland State, student government has the daunting and highly important task of representing a student body of now over 27,000 students.
With seven members currently making up the Associated Students of Portland State University Executive Staff, each of these students is responsible for representing almost 4,000 Portland State students.
And, with that said, we figured it would be important for you to get to know these individuals.
The Vanguard asked each executive staff member the following questions.
President: Hannah FisherPhone: 503-725-8973E-mail: fish.hannah@gmail.com
What would you like to achieve during your term in office? I hope to accomplish all of the parts of our platform and to empower as many students as possible during the process. I specifically want to connect as many student groups to one another as possible.
What role does your position play in student government? My role is to facilitate ways for students to be empowered and to advocate on their own behalves to better their lives and the lives of others.
What do you want to do once you graduate? I hope to become a civil rights lawyer and positively effect peoples’ lives.
Vice President: Kyle CadyPhone: 503-725-5678E-mail: kyle.cady@gmail.com
What would you like to achieve during your term in office? Besides accomplishing the 10 campaign platforms that Bridge the Gap ran on, I would also like to leave ASPSU with students at Portland State feeling a new sense of their own power to creative positive change on campus.
What role does your position play in student government? The vice president oversees the ASPSU Senate, helping to facilitate it throughout the year, and guides senators in their advocacy and campaigning role. The vice president is also responsible for the overall effectiveness of ASPSU.
What do you want to do once you graduate? At this point in time I do not really know and am very much focused on where I am currently at for now.
Chief of Staff: Monique J. PetersenPhone: 503-725-8455E-mail: moniquep@pdx.edu
What would you like to achieve during your term in office? I would like to achieve the successful completion of all our campaigns. I would like ASPSU to fulfill our mission to increase access and affordability in higher education. I want the ASPSU to increase interaction with the general population at PSU.
What role does your position play in student government? My role is to engage, serve and manage all members of the executive staff. I also act as an assistant and advisor to the president and vice president on policy issues, campaigns and anything else under the proverbial ASPSU sun.
What do you want to do once you graduate? I would actually love to jump right back into school and work towards my goal of obtaining a Ph.D. in political science. Or perhaps work for Teach for America, if I were to be placed in my hometown of New York.
Legislative Affairs Director: Zach MartinsonPhone: 503-725-8516E-mail: zlm@pdx.edu
What would you like to achieve during your term in office? I would really love to see tuition equity pass through the legislature this year. My biggest goal this year, however, is to get students down to Salem who normally wouldn’t have their voices heard.
What role does your position play in student government? As the legislative affairs director, I have many roles. I represent Portland State on the Oregon Student Associations Board of Directors. I will be spending a lot of time in Salem advocating for Higher Education as soon as this year’s legislative session starts.
What do you want to do once you graduate? Revolution! But seriously, I want to be a community organizer. I would really love to teach people about citizen power and work to build a social movement in Oregon in a direction that is just and far from the oppressive direction we are heading towards.
Director of University Affairs: Virginia VickeryPhone: 503-725-5658E-mail: virginiavickery@gmail.com
What would you like to achieve during your term in office? I hope while working on our platform issues that I create as many opportunities for student involvement and empowerment as possible. Student government has a naturally high turnover rate and more students need to be invested in the organization to create institutional memory and broaden the perspectives of ASPSU.
What role does your position play in student government? I coordinate and plan the campaigns that ASPSU runs within the PSU community in conjunction with invested students.
What do you want to do once you graduate? I want to win at least $100,000 on a game show to pay off my student loans. If that somehow doesn’t work, I’ll probably just go to law school and double my debt.
Administrative Director: Edward HallmanPhone: 503-725-3454E-mail: hallmane@pdx.edu
What would you like to achieve during your term in office? I want to work to make ASPSU a functioning representative organization, where our presence is visible and tangible, and student voices are actually heard.
What role does your position play in student government? I’m the guy you see at the front desk of our office. My job largely consists of helping students get connected with whomever they need. I also help our members achieve their campaign goals by navigating the bureaucracy inside and outside PSU.
What do you want to do once you graduate? I plan on traveling to another country for a while and hopefully getting involved in humanitarian aid and organic farming for a year or two. My real interest is in locally oriented, sustainable systems of agriculture and natural medicine.
Equal Rights Advocate: Debra PortaPhone: 503-725-8972E-mail: debraporta@netzero.net
What would you like you achieve during your term in office? Along with my primary campaigns-cultural competency, disabilities studies minor-I would like to establish my position as an integral part of the executive staff, and as a conduit for ensuring traditionally underrepresented students have a “seat at the table.”
What role does your position play in student government? My role is to bring systemic change to how the university views and serves students that do not necessarily fall within the “traditional student” model. In addition, my role allows me to bring the concerns and issues of students to our decision-making process.
What do you want to do once you graduate?From nonprofit to education to public office, the common thread for what I want to do is community building and public service.
These interviews were edited for brevity and clarity.