Fried Eggs Back on the Menu, Late-Night Pizza Available Soon: New Senator Philip Dussin ‘26 Talks Pizza, Campus Culture, and Student Political Efficacy at Reed

For Senator Philip Dussin ‘26, tangible change is paramount to help Reed students believe in the efficacy of their student government. This is why, as the Quest learned after sitting down with him for an interview on Monday, January 12, fried eggs are back on the menu for Commons breakfast, and pizza for dinner will be back – for what Senator Dussin calls a “test run” – on Wednesdays, which began on Wednesday, January 14. If this “test run” of pizza for dinner is supported by the student body, Senator Dussin says we could “see a further expansion,” and that options for late-night pizza are currently being tested and planned.

Senator Dussin, a Political Science major from Seattle, Washington, memorably promised in his election campaign to “fight tooth and nail to restore Commons to its original glory,” regarding the loss of fried eggs for breakfast, late-night pizza, and midnight Marketplace hours. While this spring is Senator Dussin’s “first foray into student government,” he has had some experience in leadership roles before. In high school, he ran the sound department for theater tech, helping new people learn how to do sound tech by the time he was a senior. 

While his campaign focused heavily on student life, as a Senator his roles have included working on the Occupational Health and Safety Committee, the Sustainability Committee, being a CSO Liaison, working with Computer User Services, and working on the Hum 110 Committee. Senator Dussin spends around 5-6 hours a week performing his senatorial duties, which mostly include meetings, both with his committees and public Senate meetings. 

However, working with Commons is Senator Dussin’s biggest role. While he had aspirations for running for student government for a while, his unique campaign focusing on the issue of late-night pizza came to fruition in order to “stand out in some way and bring something that’s interesting and unique to the table,” and because he “thought about the tangible things that [he] often [is] disappointed by or things that [he] think[s] can be fixed.” 

After hearing complaints about the lack of late-night food options since last year, Senator Dussin remembers thinking: “I think I could fix this. I think this is something I could do.” From a strategic perspective, he explains that “Running on something that’s tangible is risky. If it doesn’t work out, then people can see that you didn’t do the thing that you said you were going to do and then they can get mad at you, but if it does work out, it works out for you, people can see that you’re making tangible change.” 

Senator Dussin then went on to explain that creating more “tangible change,” such as the fried eggs and pizza, may help people realize the work that’s put into student government. Senator Dussin explains that “Senate does a lot. These last couple of weeks I’ve been witness to how much we have to do. We just had Funding Hell yesterday. But it’s the sort of thing that the student body just doesn’t get to see.” He stresses that “if you come to people’s office hours and you have issues you’d like to be addressed, there’s a high chance that things can be done about it.” While working on Senate himself has made Senator Dussin realize the plethora of things Senate does, he explains that “people are only aware of that if they see that that’s happening if they see that that’s working.” “It’s about making those avenues more clear for students,” he says.

Increasing trust in student government to “make change and listen to people” is important for Reed’s campus culture as a whole, Senator Dussin says. He “think[s] people at Reed tend to be very divided, people are very quick to get at each other’s throats about things.” As an example, he brought up the heavy discourse over Senator Meera Balan’s lighting campaign that took place in the MCs last semester. “I think if you have a conversation, we’ll find that we want the same things, we have different ideas of how to get there,” says Senator Dussin, who believes that, for Senate, open communication “does wonders for making people support and believe in the work that we do.”