Sen. Soto resigns. Senate summer death now three

Student Sen. Lidi Soto resigned Saturday, making her the third senator to leave office before the school year even starts.

Soto was poised to enter her second year in the Senate, having been elected on Rock the Yellow in 2008. She ran for vice president on a ticket with fellow Sen. Nick Schultz in 2009.

Soto was among the Senate’s more adamant and informed supporters of progressive and student union-related initiatives. She was also active in the College Democrats. She found friends in unlikely places in the ASUO — anti-establishment presidential candidate Ryan McCarrel loudly cited a friendship with her, while members of the Oregon Commentator staff were also friends because they knew her through the school’s rugby teams.

However, there were murmurs that Soto was not so popular among union members, and it is notable that she remained by OSPIRG’s side longer than most powerful senators on the left.

It’s likely the ASUO President Emma Kallaway’s appointee to Soto’s seat, representing social science students, will be a similarly reliable vote on the left. It will also add yet another shade of interest to Kallaway’s hiring processes.

Soto cited time commitments, specifically to the rugby team, and financial obligations in her letter of resignation.

Dear All,

I’m announcing my resignation from Senate Seat 14, effective immediately.

I regret that I will not be able to work with many of you as a senator
during the upcoming year. I will, however, continue to work outside of
the ASUO and look forward to collaborating with you all in other
projects, one of them being in the very near future. Zach and Jeremy
and many others will be working extremely hard on the regional Power
Shift conference and I am excited to support them and hope you do as
well.

I was extremely lucky to be involved in a variety of activities last
year that challenged me and helped me grow. Some of them of them were
helping to coordinate a national conference, different employment
opportunities, my involvement with the UO women’s rugby team, and an
executive campaign. All of these activities and more during my junior
year set me back in my studies and it’s something that I must to
prioritize this upcoming year. In addition, financial reasons have led
me to seek employment off campus for the upcoming year, limiting the
time I’m able to be on campus for class and senate activities.

I look forward to completing my senior thesis this year and look
forward to concentrating on my studies once again. I’m also excited to
be taking over the scrumhalf position on the women’s rugby team and
giving my team the commitment they deserve. (Shoutout to the 10th
nationally ranked women’s rugby team!!)

Thank you all for a wonderful year, and I wish you all the very best.

Lidi