Wednesday night, Students First! and SERVE, two slates in the undergraduate student government, announced their decision to form QUALIFIED, a coalition in which the slates agreed to support each other throughout the election process.
Jesse Rogel, the presidential candidate for the slate Bruins United, responded to the alliance with a written statement: “It’s disheartening that we were criticized for “politicizing” an independent office with a qualified candidate. As Bruins United, we promote a democratic process. Clearly, the alliance of two uncontested offices with the Students First! slate is a pure political maneuver. The two uncontested candidates have prioritized political agendas over student welfare. At this point, there are truly no independent candidates.”
Three commissions on campus ““ Campus Events, Community Service and Student Welfare ““ typically choose their candidates in an in-house vote. While the two slates on campus can challenge those in-house candidates, those candidates have traditionally remained independent and uncontested.
The new coalition, QUALIFIED, was created in response to the decision by the Bruins United candidate, Myles Hamby, to run for Student Welfare commissioner.
Two other commissioner positions ““ Campus Events commissioner and Community Service commissioner ““ remain unchallenged.
“We need to have quality in-house candidates for the commissions,” said Valerie Sien, current Community Service commissioner. “If we had been unopposed as we traditionally are, the formation of SERVE would have never happened.”
But Rogel said the commissioner positions are publicly elected, and since they each retain a vote at the USAC table they should not necessarily be assured a victory.
“Experience in the commissions is not the only factor that makes a candidate qualified for a position on USAC. To make this statement would be to say the student body’s vote is flawed and a select few members in each office should choose the officers that represent the student voice. Ultimately, the commission remains a publicly elected office. … Students deserve the right to choose who they believe will make the best candidate,” Rogel said in a written statement.
USAC President Homaira Hosseini emphasized that QUALIFIED is not a merging of slates, but the partnership of two individual slates, or groups of students with similar political interests who pool their resources and campaign together.
According to a statement released by Cinthia Flores, the Students First! presidential candidate, the slates decided to partner not out of political motivation, but to show the student body that they support each other as the most qualified candidates for student government.
“With QUALIFIED, we are bringing together the most talented and accomplished candidates for USAC,” Flores said. “Students First! has a history of service and accomplishments. … SERVE brings a history of quality campus entertainment, from Bruin Bash to impressive engagement in the community through the Community Service Day.”