At a university well-known for having a vocal student body,
students are working to ensure that UCLA doesn’t fade from
one of the richest histories of student activism in the nation.
From protesting the firing of University of California President
Clark Kerr and the dismissal of Communist professor Angela Davis in
the 1960s to pushing for the repeal of UC anti-affirmative action
policies in the late 1990s, Bruins have never been shy to make
their voices heard by the administration.
Lately there has not been a high profile issue like affirmative
action for students to rally around, leaving student leaders having
to get people involved with the university on their own accord.
For many this will prove to be a new concept, since in recent
years student activism has been accompanied by loud, spirited,
media-attracting, debate-cancelling showdowns ““ or fasting
efforts.
Venise Borlasa, a fifth-year anthropology student, said she
feels she has no student voice except “where there would be
protests or a strike or a rally or a walk or a sit in.”
But, she added, “there are so many steps along the way to
get there, and even some of those aren’t really
logistical.”
Along those lines, the Undergraduate Students Association
Council ““ which has had a significant role in many of the
university’s stands for student rights ““ will rely
increasingly on sparking student initiative.
“It’s our responsibility to ensure students know
what’s going on,” said Academic Affairs Commissioner
Chris Diaz.
Though students will have to make efforts to get involved,
Campus Events Commissioner Ryan Wilson said USAC has the larger
burden to jump-start student interest and warm up the larynx of the
student voice.
“I think it’s council’s job to make themselves
more visible,” Wilson said. “It’s rare for a
student to go to USAC and voice problems about the
university.”
Other council members say the student voice needs work. This
critique can be supported by the decreasing voter turnout in USAC
elections, which has dwindled from a 10-year high of 32 percent in
1993 to 20 percent this past spring.
“Students are in need of a voice, and right now
there’s just general apathy,” said Andrew LaFlamme,
financial supports commissioner.
Should students decide to turn over a new leaf, Diaz stressed
they do it for selfless reasons.
“We have to expand the idea of extracurricular activities,
to have students see it beyond a résumé builder,”
he said.
Diaz’s office makes student appointments to key
decision-making academic bodies at the university. One example is
the Academic Senate, a faculty-based board responsible for
green-lighting all academic policy at UCLA.
Students interested in representing undergraduates at this level
will have the chance to tackle issues such as the debate over
whether the university should switch over to a semester-based class
schedule.
But the student voice at UCLA is not limited to the physical
boundaries of the campus. The external vice president’s
office, headed by Chris Neal, gives students the opportunity to be
work on broader levels via the UC Student Association and U.S.
Student Association.
Neal also points out that an important component of the student
voice outside of UCLA comes down to students getting out the vote.
This way students can overcome the financial advantages of
successful lobbying and advocacy groups.
“Students don’t have money, and UCSA and USSA work
to reestablish a democratic tradition where money is irrelevant,
and the voice of the students is adhered to,” Neal said.
Ultimately, Diaz said, the student voice on the campus, state
and national levels boils down to people at UCLA getting up and
caring about their education beyond the scope of the classroom.
Students up to the task should arm themselves with a few key
ingredients: self-motivation, a sense of selflessness and a healthy
dose of gumption.
“A person must know how to stick to the student stance and
not succumb to faculty and administrative pressure,” Diaz
said.
The challenge has been extended; the burden is on students to
decide whether to continue a decades-old movement that has
characterized a university for 83 years.