It was my first regents meeting. Not knowing where to go, I went in through the public entrance. After passing through the metal detector, the UCPD patted me down and I entered the room. There was a velvet rope that separated the University officials from the public. When I tried to cross this velvet rope to join the Board, I was immediately stopped by a UCPD officer, who warned me in a stern tone, “You don’t belong there.” Indeed, thinking about who my “colleagues” were to be ““ they were the social elite, political heavyweights, probably worth more than the GDP of a small country ““ I didn’t belong on the Board. As a middle-to-working class Pilipino suburban “kid,” I knew what I was getting into but didn’t know if I could handle it. I was obsessed with the question, “How can I push an agenda here?” I felt this intense burden to get something done with the time I had. With over 160,000 UC students, and only one on the Board, it would be a disgrace and disservice if this university remained unchanged on my watch. Read more...