Motutama Sipelii
Sipelii, a senior studying pre-med health sciences, is president of Associated Students of Portland State University.
When I was elected president of Portland State University’s student government last spring, I was excited to work on student engagement and getting more students involved in campus activities.
The pandemic had other plans. The full term of my Associated Students of PSU presidency has been conducted remotely. While the other officers and I have worked hard to make sure students still felt engaged, most of my time has been spent connecting students with emergency funds, listening to their challenges and trying to find ways to keep them enrolled.
Portland State students are struggling. Forty percent of us are part-time students. Many are trying to finish degrees while holding down two or three jobs, raising kids and trying to make ends meet. Pandemic anxieties and the traumatic events that underpin our national social justice movement have taken a toll on our mental health. Statewide freezes to stop the spread of COVID-19 resulted in students losing their jobs and forced others to choose between pursuing their degree and the needs of their children. Our international students, who pay the most in tuition, deal with regulatory uncertainty and pandemic travel restrictions while our students covered by the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Act cross their fingers that a new presidential administration will provide some security.
With the help of the PSU Foundation, my colleagues and I have raised hundreds of thousands of dollars in hardship funds that were claimed by desperate students in less than 30 minutes. The need has far outweighed the supply.
As I near the end of my term I, like many of us, am exhausted, upset and frustrated.
I am frustrated by how alone students feel. I am frustrated that our state and national leaders are investing so little in the long-term sustainability of higher education. I am frustrated that tuition continues to rise every year, that there are so many unexpected fees piled on students at every turn and that all we hear about is the continued defunding of higher education.
The pandemic only accelerated issues that already existed. It took away the part-time jobs that helped students cobble together the funding they needed to continue their education, uncovered disparities in housing and technology access and added lifetimes of anxiety and trauma.
But make no mistake — things were already hard.
As the first Pacific Islander student president at Portland State, I represent the most diverse student body of any public university in Oregon; 37% of us are the first in our families to attend college. Nearly half of undergrads receive Pell Grants and 70% receive some kind of financial aid.
I have grown to love Portland and PSU. This university is the bright beating heart of the largest city in Oregon. But the brilliant students that come here to make a change in their lives and their communities need support.
I call on the Oregon Legislature to fund the state’s higher education system to keep facilities operational and stop tuition from continuing to skyrocket. But we can’t stop there: I challenge leaders to study the entire student experience to better understand their needs and the systematic changes needed to support all students in achieving their degree.
The COVID-19 pandemic will eventually subside, but the demand for accessible and affordable higher education will intensify. Education should be a fundamental human right. But with increasing costs, a university degree will continue to be a privilege reserved for those who can afford it.
Please do not let the future of my generation be one of the casualties of the pandemic.
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May 19, 2021 at 08:31PM
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