Results for the Undergraduate Students Association Council
elections were released Thursday night, with the opposition slate
Bruins United winning council majority ““ the first time the
Student Power! slate and its predecessors will not control council
in over a decade.
Runoffs will be held for the positions of president and external
vice president, as no candidate received a majority of votes.
Jenny Wood with Student Power! and Alex Gruenberg with Bruins
United will compete for the position of president, and Jesse
Melgares with Bruins United and Jeannie Biniek of Student Power!
will compete for the position of internal vice president.
Thirty-one percent of undergraduate students voted in the
primary elections for a total of 7,241 voters ““ the largest
voter turnout since 1993, when 36.9 percent of undergraduate
students participated in an election where free ice cream cones
were given to voters.
Seven of the nine candidates from the Bruins United slate were
elected in the primaries.
“We just did something that has not been done in a long,
long time,” said an ecstatic Gruenberg, the current Financial
Supports commissioner.
Gruenberg said Bruins United winning council majority is the
completion of the vision the slate has had since its inception,
when it was created to challenge the reign of Student Power!
Rallying their supporters in Meyerhoff Park with the help of the
8-clap and a bagpiper, Gruenberg promised his slate would make a
full sweep in next week’s runoff elections.
With the most influential position on council, the presidency,
still undetermined, the race isn’t over yet, said Joe
Vardner, the newly elected Facilities commissioner.
Wood said if elected, she is confident she can overcome the
barriers of her slate’s minority on council.
No candidates were elected from the Future Front or the Bruin
Liberation Movement slates, and none of their candidates will
advance to the runoffs.
All unopposed candidates were elected, including the three
independent candidates. Jason Kaminsky, the newly elected Campus
Events commissioner, watched the proceedings alone from the roof of
Kerckhoff and bowed to the crowds when his victory was
announced.
Todd Hawkins, the unopposed candidate for Cultural Affairs
commissioner, was the only candidate elected from the Student
Power! slate.
Despite having two of their candidates defeated in the
primaries, Student Power! candidates say they are ready to fight
even harder during runoffs.
“This is our university! We own it!” Wood said while
rallying Student Power! supporters as they gathered on Bruin Walk
after hearing the election results.
Student Power! candidates remain optimistic about their
prospects for the future, both individually and for action on
council.
Pointing to the large number of Student Power! supporters still
gathered at 10:45 p.m., Biniek said her slate had the ability to
get work done, with or without positions in USAC.
Wood said Student Power! candidates and supporters will continue
to work toward social justice and issues on their platform, despite
minority standing on council.
Wood said she will remain active on campus if not elected, but
not necessarily on USAC.
Bruins United leaders said they will take the overwhelming
student support they have received in elections and try to turn it
into substantive change on council.
“Some changes are going to be happening to student
government,” said Vardner. “USAC will once again be
opened up to all students.”
With reports from Lee Bialik, Bruin reporter.