Morris Sarafian’s drive to help other people began when he worked for his mother on her real estate job at the age of 10.
Sarafian’s mother, Manik Saakyan, said he would wake up around 7 a.m. each day and help her make and put up signs for various properties throughout their Little Armenia neighborhood of Los Angeles.
Sarafian said this work ethic followed him to UCLA, where he lobbied for student interests to University leaders in the Undergraduate Students Association Council External Vice President’s office for the past three years.
These experiences are part of the reasons Sarafian, a third-year political science student, is running as the LET’S ACT! candidate for USAC president.
Sarafian began his involvement with USAC in the Student Wellness Commission as a first-year student. He has been part of the Armenian Students Association for three years and worked as a representative for the Campus Retention Committee since his first year. He said his work on campus sparked his belief that USAC should do more to help students get involved in campus activities.
“When I talk about being the most qualified candidate it really boils down to me wanting to show the students that they have more of a voice than they think,” Sarafian said.
Sarafian said his work in student groups has shown him that different organizations can work together to build connections that will help students.
Sarafian’s platforms include creating programs to help students learn to use Microsoft Office and Adobe Photoshop and establishing a grant to allow student groups to use Royce Hall for events. He also plans to advocate for student needs to the University of California Board of Regents, and he hopes to host events where students can debate about controversial issues in a safe environment.
“I understood that legislation as a whole is an important way for us as students to implement change, but we don’t have to wait decades for things to form,” Sarafian said.
Because of his work as a student lobbyist for the External Vice President’s office, he said he thinks each student’s opinions should be a primary concern for USAC so councilmembers can advocate on their constituents’ behalf.
Sarafian said he attended Armenian school since kindergarten and served as student body president his junior year of high school. He said he thinks the experience helped him learn to facilitate conversation and encourage feedback, which he thinks would also help him in what he sees as the larger role of student body president at UCLA.
“He’s put in a lot of work, sleepless nights and he has the will and determination to make the school a better place for everyone,” said Shant Ogtanyan, a third-year biology student who has known Sarafian since first grade.
Saakyan said her son was always helpful to his high school classmates.
“Whether it was a science project, chemistry test, algebra – whatever it was – he would be on the phone three ways helping everyone because that is his nature,” Saakyan said.
Sarafian said he thinks all students have important input, and he hopes to do what he can to make sure all students feel that their voices are heard.
“I can assure the entire student body that whatever he promises, he will deliver,” Saakyan said. “He’s a team player and will do anything and everything possible to better his environment and the student body for everyone, not just for him.”
So long as you aren’t Jewish, right? How could any Jewish student on this campus feel safe with him as president, much less connected to him and to USAC?
Sarafain was one of the members involved in the Rachel Beyda incident.
Taken from this article: http://165.227.25.233/2015/04/22/submission-bigoted-actions-of-usac-presidential-candidate-unacceptable/
“Morris Sarafian, a current candidate for President in the upcoming USAC elections, who at the time was sitting in as a proxy for the current USAC External Vice President. Sarafian claimed that because of her Jewish faith, Rachel Beyda would have a ‘divided loyalty.'”
This is a classic anti-Semitic sentiment. The idea that Morris Sarafian actually believes that anyone can be inherently “disloyal” because of their religion (or ethnicity) should immediately disqualify him from any serious consideration for the presidency. Not only are such opinions offensive to those of us appalled by discrimination, their presence in student government has already exposed UCLA to nationwide ridicule and humiliation. It has done considerable damage to the schools reputation. Just picture the national headlines that will likely appear if the student body elect one of the active participants of that travesty to office of President.
After the Rachel Beyda incident, I would have thought Mr. Sarafain would have had the decency to resign. Surely, he must know that his presence on USAC will make every decision involving Jewish groups or Jewish individuals suspect. His position as President will immediately start the new board off with a deep division between USAC and those they are supposed to serve.
Now I know there are those that will claim other discriminatory incidents have occurred in the past. I won’t debate those because they simply aren’t critical to this conversation. The critical point here is: Knowing what we know about how Mr. Sarafain thinks right now, are we going to put him in charge of USAC? What will fellow students – and indeed, the nation – think if we do that?
I won’t endorse anyone’s candidacy. But I will say that we don’t have to elect someone who already did damage and who will only inspire a further divide.
Morris Sarafian hopes to build student connections with USAC presidency – As long as they aren’t Jewish!!