United States Student Association holds 63rd annual Congress at UCLA

As a junior in high school, Gregory Cendana’s dream university was UCLA.

When he started applying to colleges however, his guidance counselor told him that sending in an application to UCLA would have been a waste of time.

Fast forward to six years later.

Cendana graduated from UCLA with honors and has served three positions on the Undergraduate Students Association Council during his time at the university.

He now stands at a podium in Covel Commons, in front of a banquet of students from across the nation, giving his keynote address as the president of United States Student Association for its 63rd annual conference, being held on July 15-20 on the UCLA campus.

Cendana’s experience with his guidance counselor inspired him to get involved with students’ rights at college campuses throughout the nation.

“Counselors are saying this message across the country, and it’s not okay,” he said in his speech.

The association is the only political organization in the nation that is devoted to promoting students’ rights and that works to pass legislation benefiting students.

The association also works to persuade lawmakers about the importance of laws benefiting higher education and has been called on by political leaders to weigh in on issues related to students’ rights.

Last year, the association lobbied for the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act, which passed and appropriated nearly $67 billion to student financial aid.

This year, the association looking at issues such as federal funding for education, university applications, and undocumented students in order to decide on a campaigning and lobbying plan for the upcoming year.

“It’s our responsibility and our duty to be able to not only continue to fight and organize, but to get more and more students and people engaged in the student movement,” Cendana said about the association.

The association includes members from many colleges across the nation, including UCLA.

USAC has a direct involvement in the issues the association decides to work on, said Christopher Santos, leader of UCLA’s delegation at the conference and USAC’s current external vice president.

When the association decides the issues to work on for the year, USAC promotes that decision on a local, campus-wide level, the fourth-year psychobiology student said.

“(We’re) working on issues that we really want to make sure are worked on so the lives of students are better,” Santos said.

The association chose to hold its conference at UCLA this weekend in light of the fee hikes and protests that happened in November, he said.

“Many campuses across the world were looking at UCLA to see what the next step was going to be,” Santos said.

It was a time when UCLA students were really involved in the controversy surrounding those issues, and other campuses noticed that, Cendana said.

“It could be a symbol of really wanting to get other students from across the country to be inspired and empowered to take that kind of action in their own states,” he said.

The association held the annual conference to choose its vice president and president for the upcoming year and also to choose the new issues it will work on for the next year.

The incoming president, Lindsay McCluskey, a graduate of University of Massachusetts Amherst, met many of these issues before her involvement with the association.

“I felt the weight of my student loan debt as soon as I stepped foot on campus, I bore witness along with my classmates to several different racially motivated hate crimes that happened on my campus, and annual fee hikes that plagued students,” she said in a speech on Saturday.

The association became a way for her to meet like-minded people, take a firm stance on students’ rights and promote activism on college campuses, she said.

“I know that years from now I will be a different person from being a part of USSA,” she said.

Victor Sanchez, newly elected vice president of the association and student at UC Santa Cruz, is focused on extending membership to college campuses that are not part of the association.

This includes community colleges along with four-year institutions, Sanchez said.

“If our schools are not represented … how do we stay engaged with the work USSA is doing?” he said.

The results of the presidential and vice presidential elections were announced Sunday.

The association’s lobbying agenda was decided this morning.

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