Two seasoned slates – Bruins United and LET’S ACT! – are running the majority of the 25 candidates in this spring’s undergraduate student government election.
The Undergraduate Students Association Council Election Board announced the candidates running Friday night at a candidate orientation event.
Two of the Bruins United candidates are current councilmembers, including Internal Vice President Heather Hourdequin, who is running for the same position, and Financial Supports Commissioner Heather Rosen, who is running for president. LET’S ACT! is not running any current councilmembers for office this year.
From the total candidate pool, 10 students are representing Bruins United, 10 are from LET’S ACT!, five are running independently and one is from the newly formed The After Party. Another slate, FIRED UP!, would have run candidates but its members turned in part of their candidate applications after the March 13 deadline and were disqualified from running.
The Facilities commissioner position has only one candidate this year from Bruins United, which is unusual in USAC elections. Typically, the majority of positions are contested except for certain other commissions, including the Community Service Commission and the Student Wellness Commission, which normally have independent candidates running unopposed.
Representatives from The After Party, a new satirical slate this year, said they hope to refocus USAC’s attention back onto students by running one candidate. A satirical candidate ran for general representative in last year’s election as well.
Running on the slogan, “Let’s Not Act,” Jason Ergina said he thinks the two current slates do not adequately represent the interests of most students.
Three candidates, Aditi Agrawal, Jack Guo and J. Cesar Flores, did not attend the mandatory candidate orientation. Election Board Chair Shagun Kabra said he would reach out to each candidate to see why he or she missed the meeting, then he will determine whether the three students are still eligible to run.
Agrawal was set to run for general representative with Bruins United. Flores was expected to run for transfer student representative as an independent candidate. Guo, who would’ve run for Cultural Affairs commissioner as an independent, decided to no longer enter the race.
Kabra said the candidates who did not attend the orientation are not necessarily ineligible to run, but must provide a legitimate excuse for their absence. Agrawal from Bruins United has already been excused.
Kabra said a legitimate excuse could be a medical emergency or academic conflict, among other things. He added he expects to excuse or disqualify the absent candidates by the end of the weekend.
The candidates will gather again at Meet the Candidates on April 17.
The list below states the name and slate affiliation of each candidate running in the spring 2015 election.
| President | |
| Heather Rosen, Bruins United |
|
| Morris Sarafian, LET’S ACT! |
|
| Internal vice president | |
| Heather Hourdequin, Bruins United |
|
| Devyani Rana, LET’S ACT! |
|
| External vice president | |
| Zachary Helder, Bruins United |
|
| Denea Joseph, LET’S ACT! |
|
| General representative | |
| Aditi Agrawal, Bruins United | Agrawal didn’t attend the mandatory candidate orientation. |
| Anais Leontine Amin, LET’S ACT! |
|
| Jaimeson Cortez, LET’S ACT! |
|
| Jason Banks Ergina, The After Party |
|
| Matt Hezlep, Bruins United |
|
| Aaliya Khan, LET’S ACT! |
|
| Daniel Siegel, Bruins United |
|
| Transfer student representative | |
| J. Cesar Flores, independent | Flores didn’t attend the mandatory candidate orientation. He will be ruled ineligible unless he submits a valid excuse to the Election Board and is approved to continue in the election. |
| Keytiana Hempstead, LET’S ACT! |
|
| Ariel Rafalian, Bruins United |
|
| Academic Affairs commissioner | |
| Kevin Sandoval Casasola, LET’S ACT! |
|
| Trent Kajikawa, Bruins United |
|
| Cultural Affairs commissioner | |
| Amy Shao, LET’S ACT! |
|
| Financial Supports commissioner | |
| Ruhi Patil, Bruins United |
|
| Erineo Garcia, LET’S ACT! |
|
| Facilities commissioner | |
| Ian Cocroft, Bruins United |
|
| Student Wellness commissioner | |
| Marvin Chen, independent |
|
| Community Service commissioner | |
| Zack Dameron, independent |
|
| Campus Events commissioner | |
| Alexandra Mossler, independent |
|
Contributing reports by Kendal Mitchell, Bruin staff.