Kassa will oversee Con Court appointments

ASUO Vice President Getachew Kassa will oversee the hiring of Constitution Court justices who will decide the pending grievance against President Emma Kallaway, according to a release from the executive.

Kassa “will try to schedule” the interviews in late September, when Kallaway and Chief of Staff Ella Barrett are out of town at the Holden Leadership Center’s LeaderShape conference in Gresham. Kassa will interview applicants — without discussing the grievance, according to the release — alongside “one non-student and one student not currently serving in the ASUO Executive.”

The executive has also set a target date for the appointments at the first Senate meeting of fall term. That means getting rid of this story early, before it can be rehashed in many newspapers (there will be only Backs to the Books and two regular issues before confirmation if the first meeting is Wednesday of week 1). It also means one heck of a first Senate meeting.

The biggest questions now are who the non-exec staff student will be, whether the presiding Senate president allows for a confirmation vote before new Senate officers have been nominated and whether anyone makes a stink about either. Though Kassa is generally well-liked and trusted, and this announcement is likely an effective proactive step against criticism of the hiring process, no one should assume he will hire a stealth conservative. And even if he would, the “non-student” certainly won’t.

But if the executive keeps up messaging like this, the year is going to be a lot smoother for them. In the release, Kallaway once again calls the grievance “malicious.”

“My administration has been the target of malicious attacks by people who care more about playing politics than about helping to solve the real problems facing University of Oregon students. We understand the critical role that will be played by the students who will fill these positions, and are committed to guaranteeing the legitimacy of the appointment process.”

Here’s the full text of the release:

ASUO VICE-PRESIDENT KASSA WILL OVERSEE APPOINTMENT OF CONSTITUTION COURT JUSTICES, SENATORS

ASUO President Emma Kallaway and Chief-of-Staff Ella Barrett will still participate in ASUO Executive hiring process

EUGENE, OR – On Tuesday, August 18, ASUO President Emma Kallaway announced that she has asked ASUO Vice-President Getachew Kassa to manage the appointment process for ASUO Constitution Court Justices and the two open ASUO Senate seats. Kallaway said that allowing Kassa to review applications and interview applicants for positions that will potentially rule on the outcome of a grievance filed against her will guarantee the integrity and legitimacy of the appointments in the eyes of University of Oregon students.

“My administration has been the target of malicious attacks by people who care more about playing politics than about helping to solve the real problems facing University of Oregon students,” said Kallaway. “We understand the critical role that will be played by the students who will fill these positions, and are committed to guaranteeing the legitimacy of the appointment process.”

Kassa will review all applications for the Constitution Court and Senate positions without input from Kallaway or Barrett. He said that he will ask one non-student and one student not currently serving in the ASUO Executive to help conduct the interviews with applicants, which he will try to schedule in late September when Kallaway and Barrett will be in Gresham, OR attending the LeaderShape Institute sponsored by the Holden Leadership Center. Kassa stated that he would not discuss the pending grievance against Kallaway during the application process.

“My goal is to choose students based on their qualifications, their experience and their decision-making process,” said Kassa. “I will not be talking to any of the applicants about the grievance, and it will play no part in how I decide who will fill this position. These positions are much more important than just looking at grievances”.

Kassa said that he plans to make his appointment decisions by September 18, when Kallaway returns from the LeaderShape Institute. Kallaway will then use the authority given to her by the ASUO Constitution to officially nominate the students for appointment, who must then by confirmed by the ASUO Senate. Kallaway and Kassa both stated that their goal is to have all of the applicants confirmed by the first ASUO Senate meeting of the new school year.

Kallaway also announced that several students have applied for the unfilled Web Communications Coordinator, Graduate/Law Advocate and Non-Traditional Advocate positions within the ASUO Executive. She said that interviews to fill these positions would be conducted during the next three weeks, and that herself and Barrett would fully participate in these interviews.