Fewer than 100 votes determined that independent Darren Chan
will have his own office in Kerckhoff Hall next year as the
undergraduate student government’s internal vice
president.
The independent candidate was not very well-known within the
student government before running this year, and his opponents
believed that his lack of slate affiliation was going to work to
his disadvantage.
Chan said he had a lot of support from outside organizations and
that he owes his victory to people he has been actively involved
with as a Residence Assistant, Student Health Advocate and
tutor.
Michi Kono, who was running for general representative as an
independent during the primary elections, said he was one of
Chan’s supporters and that he believes Chan will do the best
job.
His opponent, Genevieve Espinosa of Students First!, questioned
Chan’s qualifications and pointed out his lack of experience
with student government.
“It will be a challenge for him and anybody entering this
office,” Espinosa said.
She added that the IVP position would have been a challenge for
her too, but said that she has been advocating the issues at hand
since she came to UCLA.
After the results were called out, Espinosa stood in the center
of a larger circle of cheering SF! supporters and thanked everyone
for their support and their vote.
When talking about her opposition, Espinosa said, though Chan
did not have a campaign platform, he had “cute”
shirts.
In response to Espinosa’s accusation regarding
Chan’s lack of a platform, he said he has respect for both
Espinosa and SF! and he hopes to work with the whole student
body.
“I’m hoping to work off their momentum and work on
issues as a collective student body where all students feel
comfortable being involved,” Chan said.
After their IVP candidate Mona Hassani was eliminated during the
primary elections, the Equal Access Coalition and their supporters
showed their support for Chan.
Andy Green, who was a general representative candidate under
EAC, said that though Chan was not part of their slate he is glad
to see him in office.
He added that he believes Chan will do the job well.
Chan’s victory as an independent should not be a surprise
since over the years slates have had varying degrees of strength,
said Michael Cohn, elections board adviser.
“If people are interested in making their student
government better, they will put their best efforts ahead,”
he said, adding that there was a lot of passion and enthusiasm in
this year’s elections.
Passion and enthusiasm were big factors regarding Chan’s
victory.
“All the people I talked to count,” Chan said.
He said he got his motivation from talking to Rick Tuttle, an
administrative representative on council.
“He told me that one thing that unifies all great leaders
is the gift of human touch,” Chan said.
He added that campaigning is more than passing out cards and his
campaign was a grassroots effort.
“People vouched for me through their experiences, where
I’ve had the opportunity to serve them,” Chan
added.