Lane is a fourth-year sociology student and chair of the African
Student Union.
By Karren Lane
On May 18, Elizabeth Houston was introduced as the president of
the Undergraduate Students Association Council for the
2000-2001academic year. Houston defeated opponent Katynja McCory,
who had experience in USAC as an elected officer and several years
experience in student and community organizing, despite the
endorsement of several student organizations and the Daily
Bruin.
The basis of Houston’s platform was that student
government needed reform. She contended that, in the two quarters
she had been a student at UCLA, she felt that USAC was extremely
exclusionary. Despite the fact that for the past five years USAC
had been composed of both men and women from various ethnic,
economic and geographic backgrounds and as a result brought
different perspectives to the council table, Houston claimed that
USAC lacked diversity and promoted disunity within the student
body.
Accompanied by her family, church and a handful of UCLA
students, Houston effectively convinced students that if she were
USAC president, she would promote unity among UCLA students by
sponsoring programs that were inclusive of the entire UCLA student
body. Since her installment as president, Houston has failed to
move beyond the rhetoric and exercise a true commitment to campus
unity.
As we enter winter quarter, it is apparent that as a result of
her narrow agenda and the lack of a well-thought-out plan to
address student issues, Houston is failing to fulfill her promise
to UCLA students. Despite receiving a base budget, the
president’s office has not produced one program.
In regards to her commitment to make USAC more inclusive of the
entire student body, as USAC President Houston has failed to
exercise any real efforts to be inclusive of students who do not
share her political views. In fact, Houston has intentionally
ignored issues that are critical to UCLA students because it would
require her to interact with student organizations that did not
endorse her as USAC president.
Specifically, in a recent meeting, the African Student Union
appealed to Houston to begin to participate in the discussions
surrounding the implementation of the SPARC Referendum and UCLA
students’ charges of misconduct against the UCPD. Even though
students voted to increase their registration fees to improve the
facilities for student services by approving the SPARC Referendum,
Houston insists that this is not a priority for her office.
Similarly, Houston jokingly said that she did not even read the
Administrative Review Panel Report on UCPD misconduct because it
was too long, despite the fact that the report detailed how the
UCPD utilizes surveillance tactics to gather intelligence on UCLA
students. Moreover, it details how the racial profile of the
invited audience of certain student programs is a determining
factor in how much the police department recommends the university
to charge student groups for security at their events.
The justification for Houston’s conscious decision not to
address these student issues is that her first priority was the
people who voted for her. I cannot imagine that any student would
not be concerned with how the university makes use of their
registration fees and the protection of their right to privacy and
freedom of speech.
The reality is that Houston’s intentional efforts to
isolate herself from issues that are important to students and
student organizations that do not share her political views is
severely compromising the interest of the entire student body.
Furthermore, it is in direct conflict with the principle of
inclusion, which was the basis of Houston’s campaign. The
organizations that Houston deemed as racist and divisive throughout
her campaign, making unsubstantiated claims that they were unfairly
funded and continuing to openly discourage students from
participating in them, are the same organizations that have
historically and continually addressed the issues that Houston
intentionally ignores.
On behalf all students, organizations such as the African
Student Union, Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlán, the
Asian Pacific Coalition, La Familia, Samahang Pilipino and the
Muslim Students Association, have been engaged in negotiations with
administrators to ensure that the university meets their
obligations with regard to the SPARC Referendum.
On a weekly basis, these organizations sponsor programs that
provide education on the different cultures of the world that are
not a part of the UCLA general curriculum and create an open space
for all students to dialogue about issues that affect them. It was
these organizations that created the Community Service Commission
and the Cultural Affairs Commission, both of which students of all
backgrounds participate in each year.
In wake of the declining numbers of minority students and
faculty on campus, these organizations have created Student
Initiated Outreach Programs that help to address the lack of
educational resources in the Los Angeles community in an effort to
increase the number of students of color and potential educators in
institutions of higher education.
The efforts of these organizations are rooted in the desire to
collectively make changes within the Los Angles community and
enhance the educational experience of all UCLA students. In
essence, these organizations embody the principles of diversity and
collectivity and actualize them daily in the work they do on campus
and in the Los Angeles community.
Although these organizations may not share the same ideologies
as Houston, it is to the disadvantage of the campus that she
chooses not to work with them. It is extremely easy to become
united with people who think identically to you, and indeed it does
not take much leadership. Only a true leader can exercise the
virtues of compromise, reason and true compassion in order to bring
a diverse group of people together in a collective.
The UCLA student body is made up of students from different
ethnic, economic and geographic backgrounds and, as such, its
students have different social realities and needs. Still, it is
incorrect to assume that an issue that affects one group of
students does not affect the educational experience of the entire
student body. At this critical juncture, it is unacceptable for
Houston to isolate the issues that minority organizations work on
by dismissing them as “special interests.” Indeed,
history has proven that the work they do not only results in
positive changes within their communities, but also provides
opportunities for all students to work together and enrich their
educational experience.
As the USAC president, Elizabeth Houston is in a powerful
position to make great changes within the campus community. As a
UCLA student, I hope that in the last two quarters of her term,
Houston begins to work with her fellow council members and student
organizations to build bridges within the campus community in order
to ensure that all students’ interests are protected.