Don’t be fooled by her quiet demeanor ““ Marwa Kaisey
has strong opinions about governing the student body.
She said that’s why she is running for president of the
Undergraduate Students Association Council.
Running on the Bruins United slate, she is looking to make UCLA
as diverse as possible, and in the process make every student feel
personally connected to the university.
“I believe that I am in a position to unite this
campus,” said Kaisey, a current USAC general
representative.
She said she feels connected to the majority of the student body
because she spent her first two years outside of USAC and working
on the Hill.
A third-year neuroscience and English student, Kaisey describes
herself as “a little bit North Campus and a little South
Campus.” She wants to put on events for all areas of the
university and reach out to on-campus communities that have felt
disenfranchised in the past, including religious and political
groups as well as transfer students.
Kaisey said transfer student issues often get overlooked, even
though transfers currently make up over 40 percent of new UCLA
students each year.
“They get one day of orientation, and that’s not
enough,” she said.
If elected, one of her plans would be to start a “Transfer
Hub,” which would inform transfer students how to register
for classes, write a resume, and get involved on campus.
Kaisey said she understands the process of adjusting to a new
environment.She was born in Iraq and lived there until the age of
6, when she moved to Jordan for one year, England for five and
Philadelphia for five more. When she was 16, her family made the
move to San Diego.
“Having that background helps me relate to people and
their diverse sets of problems,” she said.
Maha Hikmat, Kaisey’s mother, said she always knew her
daughter would make a good leader.
“She puts her mind and soul in it,” she said.
Hikmat said Kaisey has always interacted very well with whatever
group of people she is with.
Over the past year, Kaisey has headed efforts on the Welcome
Week Committee and the Undergraduate Students Association
Programming Fund Committee. She has served as programming
commissioner and Casino Night chair of the On-Campus Housing
Council, and as leadership intern supervisor for the Office of
Residential Life.
Kaisey is also involved with the United Arab Society, the Muslim
Student Association and the Neuroscience Undergraduate Society.
Kristina Doan, a fourth-year political science student and USAC
internal vice president, said Kaisey has what it takes to hold the
reins as president.
“She’s very enthusiastic about the job and
she’s willing to put in the long hours that are required of
the USAC president,” she said. “I think she has a
really effective governing style.”
Doan went on to say that Kaisey “cares about bridging
student government with students.”
She said Kaisey has done an admirable job this past year working
with the Jewish Student Union and MSA to try to bring kosher and
halal food to campus eateries and dining halls.
Kaisey has also focused on improving mental health facilities on
campus so that more counseling is available to students. She hopes
to get more students involved in work with mental illnesses in the
same way Dance Marathon has done this for HIV/AIDS.
Kaisey said she also wants to hold two conferences that would
focus on women in professional fields, to show women of all ages
that it is possible to be professional, successful and have a
family.
Another major platform issue for Kaisey is making Westwood a
more student-friendly town. She plans to accomplish this by setting
up a neighborhood council, which would have representatives from
the student body, Westwood and neighboring areas such as Bel
Air.
Kaisey said because many of UCLA’s neighbors are
politically powerful, the student body “doesn’t have
much of a voice.”
Kaisey would want to work with UCLA’s neighbors so that
students can have more opportunities to attend concerts and other
events that require amplified sound, such as The Roots concert in
Bruin Plaza last year.
In addition to focusing on more student issues in Westwood,
Kaisey wants to work on “shared governance” at UCLA as
well. She said there are several administrative committees on
campus, but not all of them have student representatives; even with
the ones that do, students often cannot vote. Kaisey hopes to
continue the process of getting representatives on committees, and
working toward eventually making the student votes count.
If elected, Kaisey said she will not take her job as president
lightly.
“I need to continue the work I’ve done to strengthen
our campus community because it has a lot of potential to improve
day-to-day life for students,” she said.