When you speak to Divine Trewick, the word “thoughtful” comes to mind.
Like other Undergraduate Students Association Council officers, she sees advocacy as central to her job. Like other USAC officers, she wants to combat Trump administration immigration policies. However, unlike other USAC officers, Trewick carefully pauses to consider questions rather than launching into pre-scripted campaign bluster.
It’s a feat she shows when it comes to her self-reflection.
Although Trewick has failed to make progress in raising the student minimum wage on campus – a key campaign advocacy promise, she acknowledges that her focus was elsewhere. She has used the Arts Restoring Community Fund she manages to help programs facing federal funding cuts, demonstrating a rare focus on action rather than bluster, and seems to have fulfilled her mandate to fund programs that elevate historically marginalized communities.
The other big responsibility Trewick sees herself as having is organization, with the commission spending tens of thousands of dollars each year on its nine core programs.
BruinBash, Word on Wednesday, Jazz Hours and multiple art galleries have all been planned and successfully opened on campus. Trewick’s events have openly criticized administration policy, aligning with her pledge to creatively hold power to account. Trewick also frequently asks students for feedback at those events, showing engagement with the student body.
Granted, Trewick does not always give interviews to talk about her record. She has also failed to update her officer report on time four times since taking office. But given the office’s historic avoidance of accountability, she is at least beating last year’s record.
