This post was updated April 26 at 10:06 p.m.
The Daily Bruin and USA Elections Board will co-host Undergraduate Students Association Council candidate debates April 29 and 30 in the De Neve Auditorium ahead of the May election.
If all invited candidates and representatives attend, the event will include 17 total debates – 13 for candidate positions, three for referendums and one for parliamentary amendments to the USAC constitution. There are 37 total council candidates, with seven uncontested races.
The debates, in which candidates will discuss their platforms and plans for the upcoming year, will take place from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. Campus politics editor Natalia Mochernak and Kelly Truong, the director of external relations for the elections board, will moderate the debates.
Candidates participating in uncontested debates will receive 60 seconds for their opening remarks, while those in contested races will have 45 seconds.
Candidates in contested debates will speak in alphabetical order and will each be asked a randomized question when they finish their opening remarks.
Candidates will have 45 seconds to respond to their question and their opponents will have the opportunity to make a 30 second statement either expanding upon their opponent’s position or refuting it. To respond, the candidate must raise their hand, and the moderator must call on them.
The candidate who first answered the question will have the opportunity to give a 20 second rebuttal after all other opponents who wish to speak have done so. The moderators will then ask the next candidate a question, and the process will repeat.
Moderators will ask the uncontested candidates, as well as the representatives for referendums and the constitutional amendments, two questions each.
Once the moderators ask all candidates their questions, candidates running for president, candidates running uncontested and ballot initiative representatives will have 60 seconds for closing statements. Candidates from other offices will have 45 seconds.
The debates for president, external vice president, general representatives, academic affairs commissioner, community service commissioner, cultural affairs commissioner, the Bruin Success Referendum and the Bruin Bash Referendum are scheduled for April 29.
The debates for internal vice president, financial supports commissioner, transfer student representative, campus events commissioner, facilities commissioner, student wellness commissioner, international student representative, the Bruin Life and Undergraduate Experience Referendum and the constitutional amendments are scheduled for April 30.
The schedule and order of the debates is subject to change at the discretion of The Bruin and Elections Board. The debates are not mandatory, meaning some could not occur if no candidate decides to participate.
The election will open May 8 and close May 15. The elections board will announce results May 15 at 7 p.m., but can delay the announcement at its discretion.
Candidates:
President (4)
- Jayha Buhs-Jackson, a second-year African American studies and public affairs student (current general representative)
- Sidd Munjal, a third-year business economics student
- Chris Vance, a third-year political science student
- Brian Sierra, a third-year mechanical engineering student
Internal vice president (4)
- Gabrielle Trujillo, a second-year history and public affairs student
- Hesma Valdes, a third-year sociology student
- Abbasali Fazal, a second-year business economics student
- Agrin Khatami, a first-year international development studies and political science student
External vice president (2)
- Cecilia Choy, a third-year English, labor studies and political science student
- Diego Chavez, a third-year public affairs student
General representative (9)
- Evan Salazar, a first-year political science student
- Omar Slayyeh, a third-year microbiology, immunology and molecular genetics student
- Brinaye Grant, a second-year education student
- Susie Turner, a second-year African American studies and public affairs student
- Parya Haghparast, a second-year business economics student
- Pranaya Vijay, a third-year neuroscience student
- Benjamin Mokhtar, a first-year history student
- Elika Rohbani, a third-year political science student
- Amelie Orozco-Ramirez, a second-year political science student
Academic Affairs commissioner (1)
- Angela Ledesma-Grattarola, a third-year political science and public affairs student
Campus Events commissioner (1)
- Salem Walsh, a third-year student
Community Service commissioner (1)
- Maya Gheewala, a third-year public affairs and statistics and data science student
Facilities commissioner (1)
- Paige Zwerner, a third-year communication and political science student
Financial Supports commissioner (2)
- Corea Kim, a second-year cognitive science and economics student
- David Escobedo, a second-year business economics student
Cultural Affairs commissioner (1)
- Divine Trewick, a third-year music industry and sociology student (incumbent)
Student Wellness commissioner (1)
- Daniela Castro, a third-year political science student
Transfer student representative (9)
- Khadijah Abdalla, a third-year political science student
- Diana Raya Perez, a third-year political science student
- Austin Buranapan, a third-year political science student
- Kristian Suazo, a third-year political science student
- Ashley Ma, a third-year labor studies student
- Max Brian Hernandez, a third-year public affairs student
- Dayanara Flores, a third-year English student
- Saidee Teresa Silva, a third-year psychology student
- Mario Malak, a third-year biology student
International student representative (1)
- Charbel Chehade, a first-year biology student
Ballot Items:
- Bruin Bash Referendum: a $3.13 quarterly raise to the current Bruin Bash fee from $1.87 to $5. The fee increase would allow the council to fully fund the annual Welcome Week concert, which the current fee only covers 40% of, according to the referendum.
- Bruin Life and Undergraduate Experience Fee Referendum: a $27 quarterly fee that would provide additional funding for Associated Students UCLA programming. Sixteen dollars of the fee would help fund ASUCLA-operated student support services and centers like Ackerman Union and Kerckhoff Hall, as well as a $1 per hour wage increase for ASUCLA student employees. The referendum would allocate $6 to identity-based Student Media publications and $5 for an Undergraduate Catering Event Fund.
- Student Success Referendum: a $55 quarterly fee that would provide funding for 10 different diversity programs and initiatives on campus, including the Latinx Success Center and the Academic Advancement Program. Within the organizations, the funding would go toward academic and career development, clinical and wellness services, student grants and stipends, and mentorship programs, according to the referendum.
- Parliamentary Adjustments to the USA Constitution: changes proposed by USAC’s Constitutional Review Committee which the council passed.
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