With undergraduate student government elections in full swing, student groups announced their official candidate endorsements on Monday.
This year’s endorsements followed a general trend set in the recent past, with multicultural groups by and large endorsing Students First! and Jewish student groups and sororities and fraternities endorsing Bruins United.
And while some student groups ““ such as the UCLA chapter of the American Medical Students Association and UCLA’s Undergraduate Gerontology and Alzheimer’s Disease Awareness Association ““ endorsed candidates from both slates, most groups chose to endorse either all Bruins United or all Students First! candidates.
For the most part, student groups endorsed the same slates as in years past, but one major break from trends is that Bruin Republicans chose not to endorse Bruins United this year since they believe the slate has broken from its original goals.
Many student groups said, when deciding which candidates to endorse, they sought out slates that shared their vision for UCLA and the Undergraduate Students Association Council in the coming year.
Joseph Miskabi, president of Hillel at UCLA, said his student board believed Bruins United shared the same values about how campus and student government should be run, specifically that the slate is trying to build by focusing on campus traditions and students’ overall experiences.
But Carlos Cazares, internal vice chair of MEChA, said his group is endorsing Students First! because he said he believes it plans on utilizing USAC for the right reasons.
“USAC is a tool and vehicle for advocacy on campus, and Students First! are those people who are using USAC for its purpose,” he said.
Cazares said he believes Students First! looks to preserve human rights for the entire student body, a vision he said he and MEChA can get behind.
In addition to broad ideas about campus change, student groups also looked to specific platform policies during the endorsement process.
Miskabi said Hillel was drawn to Bruins United’s promises to reform the way USAC allocates funds to make it more transparent and to open up office space in Kerckhoff for new student groups.
In the past, Hillel at UCLA has had difficulty getting funds for programing and does not have an office on campus, Miskabi said.
“We couldn’t get office space; this year they made that option open to us also. Previously only few groups could do that and now it’s more equitable and fair,” he said.
Cazares said he agrees with Students First! platforms to increase access to higher education, increase financial aid aside from loans, and promote a safer, racism-free campus environment.
“If you look at their platform, their slate, they stand for human rights, equity and safety on campus and preserving quality of life for all students,” he said.
One major change in this year’s endorsements is Bruin Republicans’ decision not to endorse Bruins United, as it has done in the past.
Bruin Republicans, along with Bruin Democrats, was a founding party of the slate, but in recent years many students have felt that Bruins United has been less than welcoming to students with conservative views and has not maintained its commitment to diversity among its members, said Jennifer Propper, marketing director for Bruin Republicans.
“Bruin Republicans who have been involved have been turned off, pushed away or isolated, and the only time the club has been reached out to is during election season,” she said.
Though Bruin Republicans have chosen not to endorse Bruins United again this year, Gabe Rose, the Bruins United presidential candidate, said the slate’s commitment to diversity has not changed.
Rose maintains Bruins United does not discriminate against conservative students or Bruin Republicans.
In fact, Sherlyn Mossahebfar, the Bruins United slate’s Facilities commissioner candidate, is a Bruin Republican, Rose said.
“We have run many people from all political affiliations over the years and we will continue to do so regardless of who endorses us,” he said.
Some student groups have chosen to opt out of the endorsement process entirely.
Sheetal Shukla, internal vice president of the Indian Student Union, said her board ultimately decided not to endorse any candidates.
Instead of endorsing, one of their board members decided to maintain the group’s roots as a social, cultural and community service group, she said.
“We went back and forth, but we decided not to (endorse) because we haven’t been political in the past,” she said.