Slates are a useful tool, but only until May 9 at 6 p.m. At that time, voting ends for the 2013 Undergraduate Students Association Council elections.
So before the fervor of election season begins, student groups should understand that whichever slate candidates represent, the moment they become councilmembers, they are no longer “your candidate” or “my candidate.” They are our representatives, there to provide support for every segment of the undergraduate population.
However, slate politics have influenced student group interactions with the council year-round. Some student groups have said they are unwilling to work with the council because they feel certain USAC officials do not represent them. Representatives from both student groups and USAC have acknowledged that there is room for improvement in their relationship.
This year’s elections will see a renewed level of competition, with candidates running both independently and as representatives of three different slates: Bruins United, LET’S ACT! and Bruin Alliance.
During elections, slates allow candidates to unite and strengthen their own platforms while advocating for a common vision. But once the elections are over and the new government is in place, any animosity and competition between representatives of different slates should be set aside. The elected represent all students, regardless of their voter base.
Likewise, student groups should understand the potential their input could have on the direction of USAC’s offices. By actively collaborating with their new representatives, even if they endorsed another candidate, students can better utilize USAC as a space for student leaders to network, access funds and discuss new ideas.
Regardless of the extent of the benefits student groups could receive from working with USAC offices, collaboration will lead toward wider representation on campus and can ensure their concerns are spread to a broader audience.
Even so, some student groups have been consistently resistant to USAC outreach.
Anthony Le, the publicity and outreach coordinator of the Asian Pacific Coalition and third-year American literature and culture and Asian American studies student, said that he and the organization did not feel represented in student government, and particularly not by Bruins United, which makes up a majority of the council this year. For one, Le said he feels some USAC representatives have not fully respected the different cultures represented under the Asian Pacific Coalition, a loosely associated organization of many different Asian and Pacific Islander groups, because they did not address each member group of the coalition individually.
However, student groups must understand that USAC has a limited number of resources, and reaching out to umbrella organizations such as the Asian Pacific Coalition is one way to contact as many groups as possible.
Student groups should not expect the government to guess what they want. If they feel a need, they should actively follow up with the council.
Andrea Hester, a fourth-year global studies student and USAC internal vice president, said that part of her job is to be a representative to all students, and she tries to be open to all input.
Hester’s office sends emails to almost all student groups to ask what they would like to see from her office and to provide networking opportunities between student groups. Hester said that some groups chose not to respond to her office’s outreach.
When a fundamental disconnect between student groups and their representatives surfaces in this way, it is the government’s responsibility to reach out, but it also falls upon the student groups to be open to that outreach. That is to say, both parties should make a more concerted effort to work with the other.
All politics, ideologies and disagreements aside, student groups should not lose the opportunity to interact with USAC and gain from the council’s resources.
This is not the first year that a disconnect between USAC and student groups has surfaced.
Last year, Carlos Quintanilla, now a second-year history student, was one of eight student group advocacy directors for the internal vice president’s office and is now a chief of staff for the office.
While many of the hundreds of student groups did not respond to outreach emails, Quintanilla encountered a few groups who responded negatively. He said they told him that they would receive no benefit from a partnership with the internal vice president’s office because they did not feel represented.
By avoiding dialogue or any active exchange of ideas with USAC, students essentially silence their own voices. Slate politics divide our campus for two months each year. That’s long enough.