USAC recap – Sept. 30

The Undergraduate Students Association Council approved a resolution calling on UC President James Milliken to release the letter from the Department of Justice which sought a $1 billion settlement from UCLA and specific concessions to restore the university’s research funding at its first meeting of the 2025-26 academic school year Sept. 30

USAC is the official student government representing the undergraduate student body at UCLA. Meetings take place Tuesdays every week at 7 p.m., and they are open to all students. They typically take place in person at the Bruin Viewpoint Room and are live streamed and recorded online. Students can watch the livestreams on USAC Live! or find the recorded stream on the USAC YouTube channel which is also posted in the agenda section of the USAC website.

Public comment:

• Hatif Syed, a member of the California Public Research Interest Group, said CALPIRG started a pledge drive this week to raise money for the organization and has recruited 15 new members. He added that CALPIRG has fall quarter events planned for their bees campaign with a goal of passing a statewide ban on neonics in California.

Funding:

• The council allocated $10,673 from the Contingency Programming Fund to one USAC entity and 50 non-USAC entities.

Special presentations:

• Jonathan Wisner, the student government support manager, said USAC officers may use their allocated UCLA Store cards to buy supplies for their offices and events without putting down their own purchase money or submitting a requisition form. He added that the officers can pick up their cards at the main UCLA Store located in Ackerman Union and use them to purchase items in the store for up to $250 a day. The officers must also present their BruinCard to the cashier so that the purchases can be charged to the Student Government Accounting office, he said. To complete the process, the officers must submit a Google form and attach their receipt within 24 hours of their purchase, Wisner added.

Appointments:

• The council appointed Russell Mo, a third-year economics student, as vice chair of the USAC Finance Committee.

• The council appointed Michelle Liou, a third-year business economics student, to the USAC Finance Committee.

• The council appointed Diana Aboul-Hosn, a third-year English and labor studies student to the Academic Senate Legislative Assembly.

• The council appointed Khadijah Atthar, a third-year political science student, to the Academic Senate Legislative Assembly.

• The council appointed Noor Baber, a third-year political science student, to serve as the vice chair of the Campus Safety Alliance.

• The council appointed Shirin Dunker, a fourth-year molecular, cellular, and developmental biology student, to the USAC Finance Committee.

• The council appointed Cindy Gonzalez, a third-year political science student, to the Academic Senate Committee on Academic Freedom.

• The council appointed Angela Ledesma-Grattarola, a third-year political science and public affairs student, to the Academic Senate Executive Board.

• The council appointed Jackeline Mejia-Lopez, a second-year neuroscience student, to the Academic Senate Undergraduate Council.

• The council appointed Israa Shamseldin, a fourth-year human biology and society student, to the Academic Senate Committee on Budget and Planning.

• The council appointed Jake Smith, a third-year political science student, to the Academic Senate Faculty Executive Committee.

• The council appointed Alexander Suarez, a fourth-year political science student, to the Academic Senate Programs Review Committee.

• The council appointed Su-Han Tan, a third-year statistics and data science student, to the USAC Finance Committee.

• The council appointed Sophia Wang, a fourth-year public affairs student, to the Campus Bike Advisory Committee.

• The council appointed Isabelle Woo, a first-year political science student, to the Academic Senate Committee on International Education.

• The council appointed Dhruti Halambi, a first-year biochemistry student, to the Academic Senate Committee on Academic Freedom.

Officer reports:

• President Diego Bollo said his updates would be written, but did not update his report as of Oct. 6.

• Internal Vice President Tommy Contreras said his updates would be written, but did not update his report as of Oct. 6.

• External Vice President Sherry Zhou said her office’s fall fellowship – which she called an opportunity to engage and learn about advocacy and government at UCLA – accepted applications until Friday. She added that Bruin Advocacy Grant applications – a fund for students looking to advocate on behalf of themselves or their organization – closed Oct. 1.

• General Representative Talia Davood said in her written report that she would like to collaborate with Greek life organizations to create a self-defense class. She added that her office is hosting a professional development workshop with the career center during week 3 and she is continuing work for her Interfaith Council.

• General Representative Jayha Buhs Jackson said in her written report that she will be attending the UC Basic Needs Conversation in October.

• General Representative Brett Berndt said in his written report that he is reaching out to community colleges to inquire about providing more research opportunities for transfer students through information sessions and panels, such as the Stanford Transfer Research Program. He added that he is also conducting outreach to organizations for the Basic Needs Fest.

• Academic Affairs Commissioner Cristopher Espino said in his written report that he participated in the Enormous Activities Fair, where he was able to connect with students.

• Community Service Commissioner Edison Chua said in his written report that Community Service Transportation applications are open.

• Cultural Affairs Commissioner Divine Trewick said in her written report that all of her office’s directors are officially hired, adding that applications for her office and the Arts Restoring Community Initiative general staff closed Oct. 3.

• Facilities Commissioner Joy Huang said in her written report that she spoke at the Transfer Housing Town Hall in the Bruin Viewpoint Room on Oct. 1.

• Financial Supports Commissioner Nico Morrone said in his written report that his office is currently hiring and is renting out free lab coats for the quarter.

• Student Wellness Commissioner Hannah Yip said in her written report that the commission held its first in-person board meeting Sept. 30. Yip also met with the International Student Representative’s wellness team to plan a collaborative town hall, she added.

• Transfer Student Representative Hyerim Yoon said in her written report that the council conducted 17 ARC interviews. She added that she co-sponsored the resolution entitled “Calling for Accountability, Compliance, and Support for Parenting Students at UCLA” – a request for UCLA to allocate funding for a full-time CalWORKS coordinator to help enrollees in the welfare program with case management, benefit documentation and compliance with county requirements.

• International Student Representative Keya Tanna said in her written report that she initiated Global Bites – which highlights cultural dishes in UCLA’s dining halls – for the fall quarter in collaboration with UCLA Dining and has begun promoting the series.

Agenda items:

• The council unanimously approved a resolution calling on Milliken to release the letter from the Department of Justice, asking for a $1 billion settlement from UCLA and specific concessions – including hiring administrators to oversee the university’s compliance with anti-discrimination laws, revising its protest policies and cutting gender-affirming care for minors from its health system – in exchange for UCLA’s federal research grants. The federal government suspended UCLA’s grants from the National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation and Department of Energy in late July. The agencies alleged that UCLA has promoted antisemitism, used affirmative action and allowed men to participate in women’s sports. as reasoning for the freeze. However, a federal judge ordered the temporary restoration of about 300 NSF grants in August, alleging that the funding suspension violated a previous June order that blocked the NSF from terminating UC grants. The same judge ordered the reinstatement of the university’s NIH grants in August, temporarily restoring virtually all of the university’s frozen grants.

[Related: Federal funding cuts to UCLA]

• The council unanimously approved guidelines for the Academic Success Referendum Fund, which aims to promote the creation of academic support resources – like a professor and course evaluation handbook – as well as extracurricular and academic development.

• The council unanimously approved funding guidelines for the Travel Grant Mini Fund, a fund that provides students with funding for travel for academic events throughout the school year.

• The council unanimously approved the Oversight Committee Charter, a formal document that outlines how the committee, which reviews USAC’s actions to make sure they are in line with their constitution, will be governed.

• The council unanimously approved the Discretionary Fund Purchase for the Parliamentary Consultant, which approved the transfer of $3,125 from the discretionary fund for a parliamentary consultant, whose job is to assist USAC to make sure their actions align with their constitution.

• The council unanimously approved the USA Financial Guidelines for the Finance Committee for the 2025-26 academic year, which included stipend ceilings based on approved budgets for staff appointments.

• The council approved a USAC Letter of Transparency Regarding Release of Data addressed to the Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Darnell Hunt and Academic Senate Chair Megan McEvoy, condemning UC Berkeley’s move to turn over incident reports containing personal data from its harassment prevention office and campus police to the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights which violated privacy and procedural fairness.

• The council approved the Resolution Calling for Accountability, Compliance, and Support for Parenting Students. This resolution requests that USAC support Bruin parenting scholars’ advocacy efforts, urging UCLA to allocate funding for a full-time CalWORKs coordinator and liaison. The coordinator would be trained to assist undergraduate and graduate sales recipients with case management and benefit documentation to ensure UCLA complies with the California Assembly Bill 79 and the Assembly Bill 1326, which mandate coordinated CalWORKs support, trained liaisons and proactive engagement with eligible student-parents.