With the crowd of students along Bruin Walk cheering, doing the 8-clap and scarfing down pizza at midnight, it seemed like an impromptu campus party.
But if this party had a theme, it was digging, shoveling and campaigning.
In keeping with Undergraduate Students Association Council tradition, candidates met at midnight to kick off this year’s official campaigning period for USAC elections by putting up signboards that will line Bruin Walk for the next week.
The slates, groups of students who share funds and campaign goals, Bruins United and Students First! wore color-coordinated clothing and had refreshments to help see them through the night.
They put up candidate signboards along Bruin Walk and enlisted the help of friends and volunteers to assemble their materials, dig holes and ultimately get their signs standing.
The students met a little before midnight to get themselves fired up for the long night of labor ahead.
Candidates and volunteers for Students First! formed a circle, dancing and clapping as they chanted cheers to introduce their candidates and get the crowd energized. Their chants included phrases such as “This is what diversity looks like ““ we are what diversity looks like,” and “Who puts the students first? Students First!”
Not too far away, Bruins United candidates and volunteers crammed together as Gabe Rose, a third-year political science and communication studies student and the slate’s presidential candidate, addressed the crowd.
He congratulated his slate for getting so many volunteers together and introduced his fellow candidates as the new student leaders for the following year.
Campaigning for USAC elections officially began Thursday, and voting is set to begin on Monday at 7 p.m. on MyUCLA.
With elections less than a week away, independent and slate-affiliated candidates will begin fliering and promoting their platforms next week, in addition to participating in a policy-driven debate.
Candidates were each randomly assigned a specific region of Bruin Walk to put up their posts and were given strict guidelines as to what could appear on their signs. In addition, they were warned against bursting water mains that lie 12 inches below Bruin Walk as they dug holes for their signboards.
Though they were all out at midnight digging holes and avoiding waterlines, candidates took different approaches when designing their signs.
Students First! decided to create signs based on their candidates’ individual and creative personalities, said Mae Cauguiran, a second-year English student and general representative candidate.
Cauguiran said her sign, a play on her name and the Macy’s department store logo, is designed to give voters a sense of who she is.
“It’s simple, straight to the point. I don’t need a lot to say what I’m about,” she said.
Bruins United, however, designed uniform signs for each of their candidates. Each sign consists of the candidate’s name, photo and a few symbols, including a picture of boxer briefs to showcase campus traditions such as the Undie Run.
The visuals are designed to give voters a uniform sense of the slate’s candidates and platform, Rose said.
“We want to make sure the campus knows what we’re running on and what we look like,” he said.
Apart from their signs, candidates and slates will employ additional campaign strategies to win votes.
Greg Cendana, current USAC internal vice president and Students First! presidential candidate, said he believes the most effective campaigning will happen when candidates engage in one-on-one conversations with voters.
“What students remember is the conversation and the dialogue we have,” Cendana said.
But Dave Valk, a second-year political science and sociology student and independent presidential candidate, said he plans on campaigning on a more grassroots level.
Valk said he will be communicating his platforms by organizing social events, such as a party he plans to host on Saturday, and encouraging students to talk about his views.
He will not, he said, be using expensive campaign materials.
“I’m not fliering. I’m not spending money. I want to give students the opportunity to really express their vote instead of being bought,” he said.
Valk is one of the few candidates who signed the voluntary spending cap, which limits candidates’ campaign spending.
Jose Manaiza, a fourth-year mathematics and economics student and presidential candidate on his own slate, True Bruins, did not post his sign at midnight. He said his sign will be up on Bruin Walk within the next few days, as soon as he can get friends to help him bring it to campus.
Though he has yet to get his sign up, Manaiza said he is looking forward to campaigning and plans to draw on his personal connections to help make a successful bid for president. Most importantly, Manaiza said his campaign will focus on making sure students vote.
“It is important that everyone participate in this election. Every student must be represented,” he said.
In the week leading up to the elections, candidates will have to balance busy campaigning schedules with coursework, a task that can sometimes be challenging, said Clinton Jang, a third-year bioengineering student and Financial Services commissioner candidate for Bruins United.
“It’s been rough balancing this with school and midterms,” he said.