The Undergraduate Students Association Council is the official student government representing the undergraduate student body at UCLA. Council meetings take place every week on Tuesdays at 7 p.m. in Kerckhoff Hall 417 and are open to all students. Watch a live stream of the meeting on the USAC Live! Youtube channel. This was the last meeting for the 2014-2015 council. New officers were sworn in afterwards and held their own council meeting.
Agenda
- Council approved contingency programming allocations with a 12-0-1 vote.
- Councilmembers unanimously passed a resolution calling for USAC to recognize the Sikh genocide and for further advocacy to create a Sikh studies course at UCLA. The resolution calls for USAC to establish November as Sikh Awareness Month and the official month of remembrance for the Sikh genocide. The resolution also condemns attempts to downplay or deny the genocide.
- The newly-sworn in council discussed ways it hopes to solve issues of intolerance on campus, such as increasing outreach efforts to different student groups. General Representative 2 Aaliya Khan proposed organizing a town hall so affected communities could voice their concerns.
Officer Reports
- Former President Avinoam Baral said USAC will showcase aspects of its work to previous USAC members on Alumni Day on May 16. The Election Board will release a preliminary report on Friday regarding allegations that LET’S ACT!’s used illegal campaign fundraising methods. Baral said he thinks there is not enough evidence yet to merit a full USAC-led investigation.
- Internal Vice President Hourdequin said her office is having food trucks come to UCLA during finals week this quarter to serve students.
- Former External Vice President Conrad Contreras said there will be a photo campaign on Thursday called “Dear Gov. Brown” to persuade Brown to continue funding the UC.
- Former Student Wellness Commissioner Savannah Badalich said her office recently hosted Bruin Health Week, which she said she thinks was helpful to students.
- Former Transfer Student Representative Negeen Sadeghi-Movahed said the academic resource guide her office created will be ready for the transfer orientation session.
Special Presentations
- Founders of Career Closet, a service which provides students professional attire for free, asked USAC to spread the word about their work.
- Former Internal Vice President Heather Hourdequin and representatives from her office gave a presentation about their work since November, which includes creating a safety resource application, Circle of 6 U, setting up food trucks for finals, hosting an open forum with the UCPD and organizing an off-campus living fair.
- Former Community Service Commissioner Cynthia Wong and the representatives from her office gave a presentation listing the office’s projects over the year. These projects included hosting their 12th annual Day of Service, organizing events for the National Hunger and Homeless Awareness Week and organizing a Spread the Word, End the Word campaign at UCLA.
- Former Academic Affairs Commissioner Allyson Bach gave a presentation listing the office’s work over the past year, which included organizing stress-reducing events where students could cuddle with pets and advocating for the diversity requirement to pass, among others.
- Former Campus Events Commissioner Greg Kalfayan gave a presentation listing the office’s projects over the past year, including screening previews of movies and organizing talks with YouTube celebrities and a porn star panel.
Compiled by Nicholas Yu, Bruin contributor.