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CANDIDATE STATEMENTS
VP for Grievances and Academic Freedom (2 candidates; vote for 1)
Bill Knight (Incumbent)
Associate Professor, English. Tenured Faculty
I have found the past two years as VP for Grievances and Academic Freedom immensely rewarding. In spite of the difficult horizon for academic labor here at PSU, I find myself more committed than ever to the work of supporting faculty and academic professionals in their relations and conflicts with management and the administration. Every single case, every single question, problem, or need has represented an invaluable and gratifying opening to connecting with you and offering my support. Those opportunities for connection and mutual problem solving are among the most important possibilities generated by our union here at PSU, and I'm excited to serve a second term and to continue this work with all of you and with the PSU AAUP.
[This statement was submitted by the nominee]
Molly Benitez
Assistant Professor, Women Gender and Sexuality Studies. Tenure Track Faculty
In this moment, as we watch academic institutions bend to political pressure and as repression of students, staff, and faculty continues to grow, it is more important than ever to have a VP of Grievance and Academic Freedom who is not afraid to fight for what the academy should be, a place where we are free to explore, challenge, and create modes of inquiry, knowledge, and worlds.
For the past 15 years I have been actively involved in labor organizing. I have founded 2 labor projects that have worked hard to hold employers and unions accountable while simultaneously supporting workers through Know Your Rights trainings, as witness at meetings, and running campaigns. I am currently the project lead of the National LGBTQ+ Workers Center. My work and organizing experience has taught me to be a skilled and confident facilitator, negotiator, and ally.
[This statement was submitted by the nominee]
VP for Legislative and Political Action (1 candidate; vote for one)
Karlyn Adams-Wiggins
Associate Professor, Psychology. Tenured Faculty
I have been a member of PSU-AAUP since arriving at PSU in Fall 2017, but have been an AAUP member since my years as a graduate teaching assistant at Rutgers University (2013-2015) and as a Summer Organizing Fellow for the Rutgers AAUP-AFT adjunct/part-time lecturer organizing campaign (2015). I also have some experience with student support services work, as I also was an academic coach while in graduate school and continue to be an engaged mentor to undergraduate and doctoral students at PSU today through structured programs. I am running for this position because I am a lifelong supporter of public education at both the K-12 and postsecondary levels and believe that it is vital that education workers use our power to challenge the worsening attacks on public higher education access that have been ongoing since at least the 1980s. I also believe it is crucial for education workers to fight back against neoliberal efforts to create planned failure of state institutions, casualization of academic labor, and the erosion of faculty working conditions in the era of what some refer to as the “corporate university” (alongside broader attacks on organized worker power). I am eager to apply my passion for grassroots organizing and my understanding of higher education systems to advocate for publicly-accessible, public-serving higher education in Oregon that takes the interests of working class families of all cultural backgrounds seriously. I am committed to worker dignity and democracy in the workplace, which I believe is best served by activating rank and file union membership to be active participants in our collective future building, so I look forward to building capacity for greater participation by the wider membership and a greater sense of community among workers at PSU.
PSU-AAUP Experience: Organizing Committee (2025-present); Strike Committee (2024-present)
[This statement was submitted by the nominee]
Treasurer (1 candidate; vote for one)
Ellis Hews
Senior Research Assistant 1, Institute on Aging. Non-Tenure Track Research Faculty.
I would be delighted to have your support for the role of Treasurer. I have been a proud member of PSU-AAUP since joining the Institute on Aging in 2024. I currently serve as the Metro, Aging and Population Studies Unit Representative and as a member of the Organizing Committee. I served as a member of the Strike Committee, and I am proud of the collective work we accomplished to improve pay for members and secure bridge funding for researchers and soft money funded departments. I am running for Treasurer to bring a collaborative and organizing lens to this important role. I appreciate your consideration!
[This statement and glamour shot was submitted by the nominee]
Secretary (2 candidates; vote for one)
Andrew Santa Lucia
Associate Professor of Practice, Architecture. Non-Tenure Track Instructional Faculty-Continuous Appointment
As an NTTF-CA worker and member of the PSU-AAUP Strike Committee, I helped organize a credible strike threat that pushed the administration towards its most current offer we are about to vote on. I’m running for Secretary to continue building union strength through solidarity and a commitment to rank-and-file democracy. My organizing experience—both at PSU and beyond—grounds my belief that our power comes from each other. I will work to protect the most precarious amongst us, resist attacks on shared governance, and help ensure that PSU-AAUP remains a fighting union for all its members.
[This statement was submitted by the nominee]
Kim Williams
Associate Professor, Politics and Global Affairs. Tenured Faculty
I value PSU- AAUP’s hard work to defend our rights, increase our pay, and fight tenaciously for the most vulnerable among us. I have been a member since 2011. I am running for Secretary to support our leadership and do what I can to promote AAUP’s vital mission.
[This statement was submitted by the nominee]
Councilor at large (8 candidates; vote for three)
Trevino Brings Plenty (Incumbent)
Native American Student Services coordinator/advisor, Multicultural Student Services, GDI. Adjunct. Academic Professional.
I have served as an AAUP Executive Councilor-at-large member and would be honored to be elected again to represent our members. Over the years, I have had numerous great conversations with our members about how they can get involved in the union. Additionally, discussing labor issues nationally and educating about labor history and how the AAUP continues to push for better working conditions for all AAUP workers here at PSU. I plan to continue these engagements as an EC at-large member. I am a PSU alum and have served as the Native American Student Services coordinator in my current position since 2016. With my focus on first-generation, low-income students, I do my best to help students make sense of this college experience and, as they work toward degree completion, help them prepare for what their working condition may look like with PSU as a current living example and with some of the challenges when people work for the betterment of their respective and expansive communities. Each union member brings humanity to their work in an institution whose budget and data may incorrectly convey a different message. It’s our responsibility to ensure that public education is financially accessible to all working-poor people.
[This statement was submitted by the nominee]
Madeline Frisk
Coordinator of Student Government Relations & Advisor to Greek Life, Student Activities & Leadership Programs. Academic Professional.
I joined PSU-AAUP in 2021 when I started as an academic professional as the SALP Advisor to ASPSU & Greek Life. I have been involved with Together 4 PSU, a coalition of PSU’s unions and ASPSU leaders since 2022, and a unit rep since 2023. The perspective of academic professionals must be present within our union leadership to bridge the gap between unions and students to strengthen our cause in solidarity.
I believe in unions as a force for change and I believe that I can help find ways to show AAUP members that not only is the union a space for advocacy but also for finding a sense of belonging on campus. This makes our work feel more fulfilling, allows us to better serve students, and to feel like we can make an impact on a broader scale. We are stronger together!
[This statement was submitted by the nominee]
Jamie L. Jones
Teaching Assistant Professor, School of Public Health. Pre-continuous Non Tenure Track Instructional Faculty
I would be honored to be elected as a Councilor at Large. I have been a member of PSU-AAUP since I came back to PSU in 2023 and am a current member of the Contract Bargaining Team. Both my recent experience at the bargaining table and my commitment to labor with a social justice and anti-racist lens has inspired me to run for an elected-leadership position. I believe that our union is only as strong as our membership. If elected, I will amplify membership feedback into leadership decisions and fight for our collective rights as our mission is jeopardized by both misaligned financial priorities and the attack on academia. I am a PSU alum twice over (BA ‘09, MPH ‘11), and have been an Undergraduate Instructor (2011-12) and Academic Advisor (2013-14). I currently serve as the AAUP unit rep for School of Public Health and on the Faculty Budget Committee.
[This statement was submitted by the nominee]
Karen Kennedy
Academic Adviser, Office of Advising and Career Services. Academic Professional
I would be honored to serve on the AAUP Executive Council in the Councilor at Large position. I am an Academic Adviser in the Office of Advising and Career Services and have deep experience in leadership roles within our union. Besides serving on the Executive Council for three consecutive terms prior to COVID, I presently serve on the collective bargaining team, which I have done for the last two contracts.
I was an organizer and member of CORE (Contract Action Face to Face Campaign ) during collective bargaining 2013-15, which culminated in our first ever strike vote. I have been a unit rep, the AP Caucus co-chair, Grievance Committee, and AAUP-OR. Our working conditions are students' learning conditions. We must fight for improved academic quality for our students, address low salaries, workloads, lay off protections, and more, faced by our faculty, academic professionals, and researchers.
[This statement was submitted by the nominee]
Elizabeth McMurtry
Project Manager, Office of Academic Innovation. Academic Professional
I have been a proud AAUP member since first joining PSU in 2022, and was a proud member of OPEIU Local 29 (AFL-CIO) at the University of San Francisco from 2010-2014. Prior to joining PSU, I acted as an organizer and successfully brought in the union (IBEW Local 89) to a Portland industrial manufacturing facility where I was the Lead Project Manager from 2021-22. I have volunteered on local political campaigns including Preschool for All and Uncommitted Oregon, and served on AAUP-PSU's Executive Council as the Vice President of Legislative and Political Action since October 2024. If elected, I plan to advocate for a continued organizing-based model of unionship, and to help us build the solidarity and strength to fight the local, state, and national movement toward austerity measures in education.
[This statement was submitted by the nominee]
Julie Perini
Professor, Schnitzer School of Art, Art History and Design. Tenured Faculty
I believe unions and other forms of organizing based on collective action are the most powerful forces we have to push back against threats to education, civil liberties, and free expression. Strong community organizations like unions are what we need in this moment of blatant state repression, increased privatization of education and social services, and disregard for workers. I will be a strong advocate for all members of AAUP who want to see our working conditions improved and to see our students and wider community thrive.
Since I began my position at PSU in 2011, I have been a Unit Representative for the Schnitzer School of Art, Art History and Design for most of my 14 years as a Professor of Art. I have deepened my understanding of labor organizing by participating in the Portland Troublemakers School and the Labor Notes National Conference. I bring a long history of community-based media making with organizations working on police accountability and prison abolition. I have been active in DisarmPSU and I was a member of the Jason Washington Memorial Art Committee. Through these experiences, I have developed the capacity to be present for difficult conversations and work with groups to achieve common goals.
[This statement was submitted by the nominee]
Jacob Rose
Research Assistant, Institute for Natural Resources. Fixed term – Research
I am a proud representative of our unit, a member of the Strike Committee, and a dues-paying member since 2023. I earned my master's degree from the Environmental Science & Management Department, where I gained insight into issues facing students.
Fixed-term researchers encounter unique challenges from other AAUP colleagues, and this perspective can’t be lost. Many of us rely entirely on “soft funding,” securing grants to cover our salaries. However, PSU does not incentivize us to stay—there are no structured promotion pathways, nor a culture that encourages merit-based advancement, as doing so may make us too costly to retain.
We must stand together with all members to ensure that PSU supports instructors, academic professionals, and researchers alike. My goal is to build on the momentum from contract negotiations and unite our members in collective action.
Thank you for your consideration!
[This statement was submitted by the nominee]
Luis Vega
Senior Transfer Admissions Counselor, Office of Undergraduate Admissions. Academic Professional
I became a member of AAUP in 2023, shortly after starting my role as an admissions counselor at our university. Since then, I’ve actively participated in union events, workshops, and strikes. In 2024, I took on the role of becoming a unit rep in the Office of Undergraduate Admissions. After attaining this role, I encouraged all counselors on my team to join the union. My advocacy didn’t end with admissions, because I actively motivate all PSU employees across different departments to unionize. During these unprecedented times, it's more important than ever that we unionize, have solidarity amongst ourselves, and stand together. As a councilor-at-large, I am committed to representing you, protecting your rights, and addressing your needs as a staff member within our university. It would be an honor to serve in this role, and I look forward to continuing to fight for strong union representation.
[This statement was submitted by the nominee]
END OF BALLOT
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