User:Buddy4498
Michelle Haley | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Chairman of the Erb Memorial Union Board of Directors | |
| Assumed office October 1, 2008 | |
| President | Sam Dotters-Katz |
| Preceded by | Chess Patricolo |
| Member of the Erb Memorial Union, One Year At-Large Position | |
| Assumed office May 25, 2008 | |
| Member of the Erb Memorial Union, One Year Appointed EMU Programs Position (for the UO Cultural Forum) | |
| In office May 25, 2007 – May 24, 2008 | |
| Succeeded by | Gloria Kim |
| Personal details | |
| Born | February 18, 1987 (age 21) |
| Nationality | American |
| Political party | Oregon Action Team |
| Residence | Eugene, Oregon |
| Occupation | Cultural Forum Employee |
| Profession | Student |
Michelle Haley (born February 18, 1987) is the current Chairman of the Erb Memorial Union Board of Directors (EMU Board). Before being elected Chairman of the 2008-2009 Board, she was the House Committee Chair from 2007 to early 2008, holding the post during the McLain ASUO presidency.
During her first term (2007-2008), she represented the Erb Memorial Union as an EMU Programs Representative. In 2008, Haley was elected by the University of Oregon student body to her current 1-year At-Large position.
With her election as Chairman, she is the second female Chair of the EMU Board of Directors. She is the first Indonesian-American and first Cultural Forum employee to serve as Chairman. As Chairman of the Board, Haley ranks third in the line of presidential succession, following Vice President Johnny Bill Delashaw III, and Senate President Alexander McCafferty, which makes her the highest-ranking woman in ASUO politics today.
Political career
Early
After moving to Eugene, Haley worked her way up in ASUO politics. She was appointed as EMU Programs Representative for the Cultural Forum by the 2006-2007 EMU Search Committee in 2007. During the first Full Board meeting of the 2007-2008 ASUO session, Michelle Haley was unanimously elected to the Chairmanship of the EMU House Committee.
As House Committee Chair, Haley worked steadfast for tag representation reform. In previous years, the House Committee performed poorly in their efforts to represent ASUO programs that were housed within the student union building. Haley enhanced the program by increasing House Committee member accountability through an interview-and-report process. This involved House Committee members meeting with their tags regularly and reporting back to the Committee and Full Board with concerns and updates. Haley also began the process for Project: Diversity Mural. Other House Committee accomplishments include signage reform, allocation of office space to the College Democrats, passage of several Over-Realized Fund requests, and updates to the operating hours of the EMU.
Serving on the EMU Governance Document Review Committee in 2008, Haley supported a vast number of accountability reformations. She supported increases in meeting attendances, office hour responsibilities, and Board oversight of Senate Over-Realized and Surplus requests. Her legacy quickly took shape as a reformer and supporter of strict accountability.
ASUO Elections 2008
Early in the 2008 ASUO primaries, Haley joined fellow EMU Board member Tony Mecum, Oregon Commentator Contributor Sean Jin, Honors College Student Director Tom Bode, Senate Administrative Assistant Derek Nix, Club Sports Executive Chair Tina Snodgrass, and others to form the Oregon Action Team. The team organized a slate of candidates from diverse backgrounds and campus affiliations. The opposing team, Rock the Yellow, quickly came out after the Oregon Action Team, featuring Presidential Candidate Kari Herinckx, Vice Presidential Candidate Jesse Hough, and a senate slate filled with various student program associates. As a leader of the Oregon Action Team, Haley assisted in the search for presidential and vice presidential candidates—a search that would add Sam Dotters-Katz and Johnny Bill Delashaw III to the Oregon Action Team, effectively launching the "Sam and Johnny and the Oregon Action Team" political campaign.
With high-profiled advisors to the campaign (like Senate President Athan Papailiou), a groundbreaking fundraising campaign, and the most diverse slate in ASUO history, the Oregon Action Team successfully elected its presidential candidates and over 13 Senate, Board, and Committee seats.[1][2]
Oregon Action Team
- Presidential Candidate: Sam Dotters-Katz
- Vice Presidential Candidate: Johnny Bill Delashaw III
- Senate Seat 1: Sean Jin
- Senate Seat 2: Derek Nix
- Senate Seat 3: Jordan Schenck
- Senate Seat 4: Tyler Scandalios
- Senate Seat 5: Ted Sebastian
- Senate Seat 6: Arielle Reid
- Senate Seat 7: Alex McCafferty
- Senate Seat 8: Tina Snodgrass
- Senate Seat 9: Walid Wahed
- Senate Seat 10: Erin Williams
- Senate Seat 13: Nathan Perley
- Senate Seat 14: Matt Hoffman
- PFC At-Large: Andy Cox
- EMU At-Large 2-yr: Tony Mecum
- EMU At-Large 1-yr: Michelle Haley
- ACFC At-Large: Joey Freedman
- Rec Advisory Board: Matt Doty & Nick Berry
- ASPAC: Tom Bode
The Oregon Action Team rode on the values of diversity, transparency, sustainability, and professionalism. Oregon Action Team campaign goals included: extending library hours; negotiating with LTD to extend certain bus routes; opposing tasers on campus; and increasing local, state, and national voter turnout.
Throughout the campaign, Haley rose to become the Oregon Action Team Candidate Campaign Manager while running for the EMU Board At-Large 1-year seat.[3] In her capacity as candidate campaign manager, Haley served as campaign spokesman, informing the Oregon Daily Emerald about actions the Oregon Action Team was taking.
In the primaries, a ballot error on the part of then Elections Coordinator Kendell Tylee asked voters to "vote for two" EMU Board At-Large One Year term candidates when voters should have only voted for one. As a result, there was a runoff election between Haley and opponent Emily Balloun. In the general election, ending on April 18, 2008, Haley beat Balloun, 571 to 323 votes. Haley's victory virtually launched her to become Chairman-Elect of the EMU Board. Haley's longtime ally on the EMU Board, Tony Mecum, also won his At-Large seat, granting Haley chairmanship since Mecum showed no interest in the post.
Current
On October 1, 2008, Haley was unanimously chosen as the Chairman of the EMU Board.
Haley supported her longtime friend, Tony Mecum, for the position of EMU Vice Chair, the second-ranking post on the Board. She also supported Paul Hayes to be her successor as Chairman of the House Committee, and Ali Runyan as the new EMU Budget Committee Chair.
| Leadership Position | Board Member |
|---|---|
| Board Chair | Michelle Haley |
| Board Vice Chair | Tony Mecum |
| Budget Committee Chair | Ali Runyan |
| House Committee Chair | Paul Hayes |
With her election, Haley became the second woman, the first Cultural Forum employee and the first Indonesian-American to hold the Chairmanship. Her position symbolized the EMU Board's desire to increase accountability and reform initiatives both within the EMU and on the Board.
During the 2008 budget goal process for fiscal year 2009-2010, Haley supported strict guidelines for sustainability and new revenue streams. Plagued by insufficient federal government oversight, the economy presented little opportunities for EMU growth. As a result, Chairman Haley fought for transparent budget oversight, asking programs to specifically identify growth requests separate from standard CSL projections. Her fight led a strong minority in the budget process, but failed by one vote. CSL projections and growth requests were therefore included in one budget goal, though a separate goal listed growth requests later in priority. Arguably, the result clouded transparency and would lead Haley to challenge growth requests with more attention throughout the budget review process.
Haley, along with the EMU Budget Committee, presented the EMU Benchmark request of 7% ($4,552,828) to the ASUO Senate on November 19, 2008.[4] The Senate passed the benchmark request, with President Sam Dotters-Katz stating, "If we could get more than 7 percent, I'd be in favor of it." Senator Nick Schultz claimed, "This is a no-brainer," and voted yes for the increase. The benchmark passed 14 to 0, with three abstentions.
As Chairman, Haley used her position's authority to begin new initiatives to enhance Board outreach. For example, Haley created the job shadowing opportunity that is scheduled to begin January of 2009. The program was met with outstanding support by EMU program directors, who felt such a program would increase transparency and collaboration between the EMU Board and EMU programs. Vice Chairman Mecum stated that the program "is a perfect example of Chairman Haley's leadership qualities. She knows how to effectively increase Board responsibilities and enhance its relationship with the programs and students it serves. I cannot think of a greater Chair to have lead this board."[1]
In addition to her progressive stance on outreach, accountability and reform, Haley is known to be a maverick on the EMU Board. Fiscally, she is known for strict accounting, something often not shared by other Board members. Her stance on student led initiatives is powerful, and her outlook on innovative governing is unprecedented.
In late 2008, Haley extended her spirit of accountability to other government branches. Haley filed 11 grievances against Senator Nathan Perley, a fellow member of the Oregon Action Team.[5] The grievances covered general Senate rule violations, as well as violations that pertained to Perley's post as Senate Treasurer. Haley filed the grievances against Perley to symbolize her distaste for the widespread corruption in the ASUO Senate. She claimed that many senators were in non-fulfillment of their duties and should respect the seats they were elected to fill.[6] Currently, the ASUO Constitution Court has not ruled on the grievance. If the Court rules in the favor of any of Haley's grievances, Perley may lose his post as an academic senator. Haley's actions to hold branches of student government accountable have led her to challenge the EMU Board's accountability as well. Thus far, with Haley's leadership as Chairman, the EMU Board has faced no corruption charges.
In December of 2008, Haley raised $2,000 for Project: Diversity Mural through a grant funded by President Sam Dotters-Katz and Vice President Johnny Bill Delashaw III. The grant is the first round of funding for the project. The Dotters-Katz administration promised to donate their executive stipends to worthy student causes in the effort to boost sustainability and diversity. Project: Diversity Mural aims to bring student unions together in an effort to design an art piece featuring several cultural backgrounds. Once finished by students, the art piece will be displayed in the EMU. Haley will be working extensively with the EMU House Committee in order to seek further funding and proceed with the plan.
At the Board's last meeting for fall term 2008, Chairman Haley and Vice Chairman Mecum asked the Board to author a letter to the Senate in response to two mysterious emails sent anonymously by the senate email (senate@uoregon.edu).[7] The emails accused Senator Kate Jones of conspiring to take over the Senate, and stated that Senator Carina Miller had intentions of running for ASUO President in 2009. The email was sent across the listservs of various EMU programs. The Board approved Haley's and Mecum's request. The Board's letter, sent to all EMU departments, the ASUO Senate and Executive, stated: "The EMU Board... wishes to remind all branches of the Associate Students of the University of Oregon, and the student programs recognized by the ASUO, that having access to a listserv is a privilege and should be treated respectfully."[2]
Future
Though Haley currently holds a one year seat, it is unclear as to the future of her political career. If she attends the University of Oregon next year, her political future is wide open. Highly regarded as a reformer, Haley is well respected by the ASUO community. Her campaign skills have proven most effective, and her constituent base is of nontraditional roots, infrequently tapped by other ASUO political heads. Whether on the EMU Board, ASUO Senate or Executive, Haley's position will no doubt be of high standing.
Political commentator career
Oregon Commentator
After her election to the EMU Board in 2008, Haley joined the Oregon Commentator staff as a contributing blogger on the publication's successful online site: http://www.oregoncommentator.com.
As a contributor, Haley frequents ASUO Senate meetings, allowing her to post commentary on the meetings while representing the EMU Board at the same time. Her online articles have been hailed by many bloggers. Her famous Senate Notes entry on October 30, 2008 attracted an astonishing 26 responses in a matter of hours. The post included thumbnail photos of various senators, as well as President Dotters-Katz, while explaining humorous events that happened throughout the night.
Ever since Haley's addition to the Oregon Commentator, the online blog has noticed a surge of politically charged comments flooding the website. Rumors regarding presidential campaigns and conspiracies have been spread at a remarkable rate. Nevertheless, Haley's articles have enhanced the Commentator's readership.
In the 2008 Hate Issue, Haley wrote a tribute to Senate President Athan Papailiou, praising his stances on fiscal reform and accountability. Though satiric in nature, the "hate" article was of high regard to one of ASUO's finest senators.
Some of Haley's other articles include: Buried in your Favorite Beer, WVMF 2008 and Sudsy Goes to Washington!.