The first Associated Students of UCR (ASUCR) Senate meeting took place on Wednesday, October 11, 2023. All senators were present, excluding senator Nguyen who joined the meeting later. The meeting also included the presence of ECAB, with all being present except for Marketing and Promotions Director Uthinh Pham. The meeting started with a moment of silence for former senator Azadin Issak and was called to order at 7:07 p.m.
Motion to approve the current meeting’s agenda was called for by Executive Vice President (EVP) Victoria Nguyen. Motion to approve the agenda was made by senator Kaden Ho and seconded by senator Rayhan Khan. The motion was approved 15-0-0.
During public forum, President Ankita Ahluwalia came to the podium. She began with a speech to returning and new Highlanders, highlighting goals for the year and explaining what ASUCR had accomplished over the summer. She states that ASUCR aims to increase correspondence with clubs and organizations on campus, hold R’Gear student input sessions and bridge communication between administration and the student body. A motion to extend time by three minutes was made by senator Kaden Ho and seconded by senator Teesha Sreeram. The motion was passed 15-0-0. She ends off by giving thanks to ECAB for the work and plans that they set into motion over the summer.
Next on the podium was Justin Tram representing UCR PLUR. He came to the senate hoping to educate non-ravers on rave culture, and explains how PLUR (Peace, Love, Unity, and Respect) can help with diversity and inclusivity to UCR. A motion to extend time by five minutes by senator Leila Haider and seconded by senator Sreeram. The motion was passed 15-0-0. He continues to explain how raves allow people to live their authentic selves, how PLUR is connected to organizations like End Overdose, and how UCR is close to rave venues. President Pro Tempore (PPT) Abby Choy addressed Tram and asked him what he was looking for by bringing this to the Senate meeting. He responded that this is a club that he is looking to start and is struggling to reach the membership threshold, and that he hoped ASUCR might help with getting attention to the club. President Ahluwalia directed him to reach out to student life or ASPB to get support with establishing the club.
After that, Rachel, a second year biochemistry student and chair for the California Public Interest Research Group (CALPIRG) chapter at UCR came to the podium. She explained how CALPIRG is a student advocacy organization and that they are working to phase UCR into sustainability, and working on getting more students registered to vote. This quarter, their priority is to commit the UCs to 100% clean energy and is interested in working together with ASUCR for future collaborations. EVP Nguyen asked her for her contact information before she left the podium.
The final person on the podium for the public forum was Hibidal Sahn from Students for Justice in Palestine. She explained how for 75 years, Palestinians have suffered brutality and theft of their home and how ASUCR had supported Palestinians during a time when Palestinian students have been suffering mistreatment from school staff. She also mentioned how during their peaceful protest at the Bell Tower, three separate news stations were called to campus because people called in saying that there were disturbances to the peace on campus. President Ahluwalia thanked her for coming to the podium and says that ASUCR will see what they can do to continue to support them.
The next part of the meeting was Ex-Officio Reports where each ECAB official did their Staff Ratifications. A detailed list of Staff Ratifications can be found here.
VP of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Ahman Greene ratified his Chief of Staff Katelyn Nguyen and is currently looking for an Ethnic and Gender Liaison. The motion to approve ratifications was made by senator Nadia Colon and seconded by senator Grace Su. The vote passed 15-0-0.
VP of Finance Brandon Huang ratified his Vice Chair of Finance Curtis Ly and Finance Secretary Monica Wu. The motion to approve ratifications was made by senator Ho and seconded by senator Alex Lu. The vote passed 15-0-0.
VP of Sustainability Ellen Nguyen ratified Seleh Okonkwo, Katie Wen, Kathya Leon, Olivia Jacob, Kelsey Fager, Giovanna Ayala, Gerarad Paredes and Sarah Fathalla. The motion to approve ratifications was made by senator Natalie Trutali and seconded by senator Khan. The vote passed 15-0-0.
VP of Campus Internal Affairs Ruhi Barman ratified Leila Makar, Sheyla Chimil-Mecinas, Leilani Tuli, Nimsha Gupta, and Ashley Tsai. The motion to approve ratifications was made by senator Khan and seconded by senator Haider. The vote passed 15-0-0.
President Ahluwalia ratified Adam Ramirez and Gino Rhoten. The motion to approve ratifications was made by senator Naia Pizzaro and seconded by senator Crystal Toral. The vote passed 15-0-0.
EVP Victoria Nguyen ratified Jack Raygoza, Angel Mojarro, Aryan Kundapur and Esmeralda Garcia. The motion to approve ratifications was made by senator Pizzaro and seconded by senator Toral.
VP of Marketing and Promotions Pham ratified Michelle Tran, Joshua Mora, Neariah Velasquez, Dillon Nguyen and Ava Watson. The motion to approve ratifications was made by senator Khan and seconded by senator K. Ho. The vote passed 15-0-0.
Elections Director Alexandra Arias ratified Angel Lee, Dean Acosta and Sumeet Sami. The motion to approve ratifications was made by senator Hader and seconded by senator P. Ho. The vote passed 15-0-0.
Next on the agenda was Summer ECAB Meeting Minutes.
Motion to open Meeting Minutes for 7/19/2023 was made by senator Viraj Ala and seconded by senator K. Ho. Motion to approve the agenda was made by PPT Choy and seconded by senator Su. The vote passed 15-0-0.
Motion to open Meeting Minutes for 8/2/2023 was made by senator Sreeram and seconded by senator K. Ho. Motion to approve the agenda was made by senator Amariah Peedikayil and seconded by senator Su. The vote passed 15-0-0.
Motion to open Meeting Minutes for 8/16/2023 was made by senator Colon and seconded by senator P. Ho. Motion to approve the agenda was made by senator Khan and seconded by senator Trutalli. The vote passed 15-0-0.
Motion to open Meeting Minutes for 8/30/2023 was made by senator K. Ho and seconded by senator P. Ho. Motion to approve the agenda was made by senator K. Ho and seconded by senator Khan. The vote passed 15-0-0.
Motion to open Meeting Minutes for 9/13/2023 was made by senator Peedikayil and seconded by senator Toral. Motion to approve the agenda was made by PPT Choy and seconded by senator Su. The vote passed 15-0-0.
Motion to open Meeting Minutes for 9/27/2023 was made by senator Peedikayil and seconded by senator Toral. Motion to approve the agenda was made by PPT Choy and seconded by senator Su. The vote passed 15-0-0.
For New Business, each member of ECAB did their Office Introductions. A motion was made to open the presentation by senator K. Ho and seconded by senator Khan. The motion passed 15-0-0.
During Committee Reports, a motion was made to open SB-F23-001 Chapter 58 Bylaw Amendment by senator Hader and seconded by senator Pizarro. The vote was passed 14-0-0. This amendment adds changes to the bylaw of the VP of DEI to make the office more accessible. Motion to approve the agenda was made by senator Peedikayil and seconded by senator Viraj Ala. The vote was passed 14-0-0.
During Public Comment, the Highlander came up to introduce themselves. Present were Editor-in-Chief Brenda Jovel, Managing Editor Senna Omar, Lead News Editor Mata Elangovan and Assistant News Editor Emyr Ortiz. The News Section let the Senate know that if they have any comments or concerns, that they can be reached out to during office hours or email, and that they will be providing accurate and unbiased reportings on ASUCR.
For Senator Reports, each senate member introduced themselves to the public before the meeting ended with Roundtable and Announcements.
PPT Choy announced a sign up for CalFresh events, how she is working on helping students with research, and preventing research abuse.
Senator Khan gave an update on athletics games that were going to happen during the week.
EVP Nguyen announced that if anyone is interested in joining senate to reach out to or follow @asucrevp on instagram to join the senate internship program.
Elections Director Arias announced that next week special elections will be held for CHASS senator and Nontraditional Student Director.
A motion was made to adjourn the meeting by senator Su and seconded by senator Nguyen. The vote passed 15-0-0 and the meeting adjourned at 8:19 p.m.
Note: The online version of this article was amended to include EVP Nguyen’s staff ratifications that was not included in the physical print
