The newly elected undergraduate student government members took
their oaths of office Tuesday night and sat around the council
table for the first time.
After the outgoing Undergraduate Students Association Council
closed its final meeting, councilmembers and their advisors passed
the gavel and offered fond recollections and thanks to one another,
with the occasional insults exchanged and tears shed.
The incoming councilmembers waited through hours of speeches by
outgoing officers in order to officially begin their terms of
service. They were accompanied by a mob of supporters occupying all
available floor space.
While there are only a few weeks left in the academic year, the
incoming council plans to hit the ground running.
Individual councilmembers will be busy recruiting their office
staff, beginning to schedule programming, and brainstorming issues
they want to work on.
Immediate tasks at hand for all of council include planning
Welcome Week, structuring USAC’s internship program for
undergraduates who want to get involved in student government, and
making plans for council to be more involved throughout campus,
said Jenny Wood, the incoming president and an outgoing general
representative.
The outgoing councilmembers had many points of advice to offer
to incoming officers, and wished them well in their service.
Jason Gaulton, the outgoing Campus Events commissioner, said
that the best advice he has for the new councilmembers is to
remember every day that they have a responsibility to students.
“Their motivating force has to be what’s best for
the student body, and if they keep that in mind, the room for
failure is pretty slim,” Gaulton said.
After a tumultuous year as a councilmember from a slate with
only two members on council, Pavan Tripathi, the outgoing
Facilities commissioner, urged the incoming council to “drop
the hatred” and cultivate an environment where all
councilmembers “can feel free to discuss their points of view
and make them known.”
Alex Gruenberg, the outgoing Financial Supports commissioner,
agreed that all councilmembers should have their voices heard and
everyone should respect the issues that other slates and
independents campaigned on.
“The most important thing is a genuine and honest attempt
to work together,” Gruenberg said.
New councilmembers need to forget about their partisan issues
and the intense competition of elections and focus on making the
campus better for students, Tripathi said.
Other councilmembers gave more practical, day-to-day advice for
adapting to the busy lifestyle of a USAC councilmember.
“My advice to the incoming officers is to not sleep in
your office ““ it’s not very good for your
health,” said Tommy Tseng, an outgoing general
representative.
Next year’s council will be the first in over a decade in
which the Student Power! slate or one of its predecessors does not
hold council majority.
Gruenberg, who unsuccessfully campaigned for president with the
opposing Bruins United slate, said that all councilmembers should
view the election results as a mandate from the students that they
want to see changes made with the way USAC is run.
“I would encourage any councilmember to see this as a very
historical change that they’re a part of and that they should
embrace,” Gruenberg said.