For the first time in three years, the University of California, Riverside’s School of Public Policy hosted a Public Service Career Fair. The event occurred on Oct. 25 from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. The event was hosted alongside Congressman Mark Takono’s office and was an opportunity for students and recent graduates from the school to meet some of the agencies at the job fair to explore opportunities, network and get ahead on their job search.
The event was hosted at the Alumni Center in Bannockburn Village, and invited federal, state and local agencies such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the United States Food and Drug Administration, Homeland Security, Los Angeles Passport Agency, United States Coast Guard and much more. According to ASUCR’s External Affairs Instagram post, due to the presence of entities like Homeland Security and the FBI, they organized a silent protest outside the career fair.
Vice President of External Affairs (VPEA), Angel Renteria explains that “…I want to start off by clarifying that the job fair was protested because of the presence of Homeland Security and the FBI, and that was made clear on the posts [on Instagram]. And that was very clear with everyone who was involved with the job fair. I have previously raised some concerns with the people behind organizing it about safety for our undocumented students given the presence of Homeland Security and other federal agencies that can not necessarily pose a threat, but more so just be very triggering and very intimidating for students.”
The protest occurred from 4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. The protesting did not last the entire time, according to VPEA Renteria, so “that way students are able to know what was going on. But we also understand that we need to support all of our students who are seeking these jobs, because they’re essential to seeking employment post-graduation. We want to make sure that students don’t feel uncomfortable with their peers pressuring them.”
The School of Public Policy’s Dean, Mark C. Long, elaborated on the steps that were taken to mitigate concerns that students had with the career fair. He mentioned that “We agreed that we would make sure that the list of participating agencies were included in all subsequent communications so that no one would show up to the event not knowing who was going to be there. We agreed and put forward a list on the outside of the building so that anyone coming into the building would know what agencies were on site. We talked with a few people from student services about providing someone on at the site in case someone came and had a traumatic reaction to the presence of the FBI and Homeland Security. We agreed to ask whether they would be coming in automobiles that had logos of the agencies and whether they would be coming uniformed. We will also put forward a request about whether they would be armed or not.”
When asked about how he felt about the protestors outside the career fair, Dean Long responded that “I think it’s good for students to protest and good for people to protest when they have an issue. And that’s an important value in this country. I appreciated the manner in which they protested in the sense that they were getting across the message that they wanted to, but they also weren’t disrupting the event. So I thought that the manner in which they protested was admirable.”
Dean Long continued by stating “I’m happy that we were able to make so many connections between students and jobs and employers. And I also appreciate the students who presented me their concerns and worked with me to try to mitigate those concerns. And I appreciate the manner in which they protested.”
VPEA Renteria also establishes that “ ASUCR external affairs, my office and ASUCR as a whole, is a safe space for undocumented students. We take every precaution to protect the most vulnerable populations of students. And we always go ahead and make sure that their needs are being met. We always want to make sure that our students are safe when it comes to their advocacy work. We will never put them in situations that will put them in danger because of their status. And that we will continue this advocacy as we have done in the past, putting their needs first since they often get overlooked by this university.”
