Several Undergraduate Students Association Council members
walked out of a meeting Wednesday night, breaking the quorum and
suspending business for more than a week.
Council members affiliated with the Students First! slate walked
out of the meeting because they questioned the qualifications of
several of the students USAC President Marwa Kaisey planned to
appoint to campus committees.
Students First! members alleged that Kaisey was choosing people
based on slate affiliation, and claimed that the only qualification
for several of the appointees was that they are Bruins United
supporters. Claims from Students First! cannot be corroborated and
Kaisey maintains that her choices were not based on slate
loyalty.
A slate is a group of students who pool their resources to
further a common set of goals.
USAC appoints students to serve on various committees throughout
UCLA including the Academic Senate, Associated Students UCLA and
student groups. As president, Kaisey has the authority to choose
many of the people who will receive positions, but the whole
council must approve each appointment.
Kaisey, a member of the Bruins United slate, said she was
shocked Students First! members would resort to such an extreme
measure without consulting her first, adding that she believes all
candidates were qualified and the issue should not have divided the
council.
“I don’t see why choosing one qualified person over
another should disable the council,” she said, referring to
what she called a plethora of qualified candidates.
Rick Tuttle, an administrative representative to the council,
said he was concerned about the actions taken by the students who
walked out and he hopes that this does not turn into a disruptive
trend.
Tuttle added that if council members make a habit of walking out
of meetings and breaking quorum, the council will be able to
accomplish little this year.
Members of Students First! and Kaisey have conflicting stories
regarding the events in the days leading up to the meeting.
“This was pretty much a last resort. There were numerous
times where we tried meeting with Marwa to create compromises. …
For this last set of appointments there wasn’t a
compromise,” said Gregory Cendana, internal vice
president.
Though Kaisey said she made every effort to communicate with
Students First! members, she said during the meeting that her
efforts were not received well.
“They talk about communication, but I wasn’t
contacted by anyone,” she said.
Nat Schuster, academic affairs commissioner and a member of
Bruins United said Students First! was putting on a show rather
than getting to the issues.
“This was theater. Some of them were even reading off of
scripts, and they knew they were going to do this in
advance,” he said.
Members of both slates agreed that council members should not
make a habit of walking out of meetings, and members of Students
First! said they do not plan on using this tactic again soon.
“I hope that this won’t (have to) continue,”
Park said. “This is a petty thing to fight over and we have a
full year ahead of us and so many issues to work on. … (But)
skirting the process and abusing power on behalf of her slate is
unacceptable.”
Kaisey said that she would like to see the council work
collectively.
“We absolutely have to come back together. There is no way
we can serve this campus divided,” she said.