Just as in the fall semester, the UW Oshkosh student body will have to vote for their leadership this March.

While voting in the presidential election was a contentious issue, the OSA elections escape any of this drama by being fully online, as they have been historically. Each student is able to vote electronically through Titan Connection.

Students who wish to run for OSA president and vice president must file to be recognized as candidates by Feb. 23 at 3 p.m.

In the 2018 OSA elections, the run-up to election day was punctuated by an instance of hate speech, when a former UWO student posted a photo of a promotional poster for then-candidates Jacob Banfield and Ian McDonald to their Snapchat story with a caption reading, “UWO Vote for these guys today unless you want a lesbian or a Hmong to win.”

The incident lead to a campus-wide response and affirmation of the university’s dedication to inclusion, as well as the first of two open forums in spring 2018 to address racism and homophobia on and around the UWO campus.

In the most recent OSA election, McDonald and Sydney Devitt ran unopposed for president and vice president, respectively.

The Oshkosh Student Association election voting will be held March 9-10, beginning at 8 a.m. on Tuesday the 9th and will run until Wednesday the 10th at 8 p.m.

Inclusivity resolution

Since the controversial rhetoric surrounding the 2018 election, the OSA and its leaders have dedicated themselves to building UWO’s identity as an inclusive community. Feb. 16th’s OSA assembly meeting exemplifies this, as the assembly heard OSA 20-040, an inclusivity resolution, be brought to the floor.

After the UWO Title IX Coordinator role was filled without any student input, Ava Tryon
OSA Vice President Pro-tempore, wrote the resolution.

According to the resolution itself, “The decision-making process of hiring new individuals in these roles that affects students’ everyday life often does not include the voices and opinions of those it affects, which is detrimental to the wellness and safety of students.”

Sponsored by various other OSA leaders including President McDonald and Vice President Austin Hammond, the resolution encourages UWO administrators to include student voices in any search committees related to filling roles relating to compliance, diversity and inclusion.