Roshan Kannan, a fourth-year psychology major, was elected to the Associated Students of University of California Riverside (ASUCR) Senate last Thursday in a Special Election during the ninth ASUCR Senate meeting of the school year. Kannan’s election filled a vacant CHASS senator seat, and came after more than an hour of deliberation by the Senate. The Senate meeting also featured updates to the ASUCR Elections Timeline, and an announcement from Vice President of External Affairs (VPEA) Ángel Rentería regarding a University of California Student Association (UCSA) resolution on freedom of speech.
The ninth ASUCR Senate meeting of the school year was called to order on Jan. 18 at 7:10 p.m., with President Pro Tempore (PPT) Abby Choy, Senator Alex Lu, Senator Natalie Trutalli and Senator Grace Su being excused. PPT Choy and Senator Su both later joined the meeting at 7:43 p.m. and 8:28 p.m. respectively, and Senator Peedikayil left at 9:00 p.m.
After unanimous approval of meeting minutes and the agenda, Public Forum began with an announcement from VPEA Rentería on Latine Lobby Day, which will occur on Feb. 26. VPEA Rentería then read a resolution on freedom of speech passed during the January UCSA board meeting. The resolution declared UCSA’s commitment to student free speech “without fear of retaliation, intimidation, or worry of jeopardizing [student’s] futures,” and also rejected “the equating of anti zionism to antisemitism.” In support of its resolution, UCSA cited charges against Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) chapters in Florida and at UC Irvine, calls for investigation into pro-Palestinian student groups and other instances of speech related incidents surrounding the war in Gaza. VPEA Rentería stated the full resolution could be found on the UCSA website, but as of Jan. 21, the resolution was not available. VPEA Rentería also stated that a copy of the resolution was available to be seen in the ASUCR office.
After VPEA Rentería, ASUCR President Ankita Ahluwalia announced fall end of quarter reports are now available on the ASUCR President linktree. She said there will be an Executive Cabinet (ECAB) review at the next Senate meeting, and promoted an upcoming alumni roundtable event on the 23rd.
Following Public Forum, New Business saw the consideration of Vice President of Diversity Equity and Inclusion (VPDEI) Ahman Greene’s pick for Ethnic and Gender Liaison. After a short speech from Greene asking the Senate for his candidate’s ratification, the Senate approved unanimously.
The Senate then moved to the lengthiest agenda item of the night, CHASS Senator Special Elections. Vying for a vacant CHASS Senate seat were three candidates: second-year political science major Neida Zamora, first year pre-law student Anahita Hooshyari and fourth-year psychology major Roshan Kannan. After each candidate presented their case to the Senate and answered Senator questions, they would need to be approved by a two-thirds majority to be elected.
After the candidates each gave their speeches to the senate and answered multiple Senator questions, the Senate moved to closed session for deliberation. After more than an hour the Senate announced it had elected Roshan Kannan to fill the CHASS Senate vacancy, after which Kannan took a seat on the Senate. Senator Kannan was advised by Executive Vice President (EVP) Victoria Nguyen to abstain from all votes during the meeting.
During his speech, Kannan touted his 2 years of experience working as a staff member in the Judicial branch of ASUCR, and a “passion to serve the student body.” Kannan said as a senator, he would “like to connect more students in CHASS with research opportunities,” citing his own experience in research and advocating that creating “more [research] events for CHASS majors would lead to more students getting involved in research.” Kannan declared the most important aspect of his campaign was his goal to “bridge the gap between our student body and the resources our school has to offer.” In addressing a question from Senator Khan, Kannan said one proposal to bridge this gap was to “do more tabling events, get specific groups of people out there on specific days and publicize that on Instagram.”
The Senate then moved to Committee Reports, and approved the Finance Meeting Minutes and Future Pills Exemption without debate. Both items were approved with one abstention.
Next came consideration of a revised ASUCR Elections Timeline. Elections Director (ED) Alexandra Arias presented the revisions, stating that the previously planned six weeks of campaigning had been shortened to four weeks. ED Arias said this change was a good “middle ground,” as there had been concerns raised about “voter or campaigning fatigue.” The Senate had no questions on the revisions, and moved to approve the timeline. However, during the vote PPT Choy raised “if you are registered as a candidate… I believe that it is against the bylaws to make changes to the elections bylaws in general. EVP Nguyen replied that in pre-meeting she encouraged senators who were considering running to abstain in “good faith.” Concerns were raised that if all members considering running abstained, there would not be enough votes to reach a quorum. The Senate attempted to vote on the elections timeline, but did not reach a quorum. The Senate then decided to wait for the counsel of Chief Justice Arnav Kacker, who had left the chamber to eat. President Ahluwalia left to call Chief Justice Kacker to return. The Senate then tabled the Elections Timeline to the end of the meeting.
There were no speakers for Public Comment.
Next on the agenda were Senator Reports. Senator Khan spoke on his work directing and researching resolutions, among other tasks. PPT Choy gave announcements regarding the Legislative Review Committee (LRC), a research expo that Choy is developing, and a collaborative event on disaster readiness with Highlander EMS and others. PPT Choy is also working on health literacy legislation.
Then, during Roundtable and Announcements EVP Nguyen announced CHASS Senator Teesha Sreeram as the December Senator of the month. EVP Nguyen highlighted Senator Sreeram’s work on the ASUCR x School of Business Town Hall, among other accomplishments. PPT Choy then announced that she is looking for help and volunteers for the research event and disaster readiness event. Senator Khan announced new office hours and promoted athletic games, and Senator Sreeram announced the Campus Advocacy, Resources & Education office is holding various events. EVP Nguyen informed the Senate that Chief Justice Kacker was still on the way back from Lothian, and the Senate then looked at the elections incentive shirts, and President Ahluwalia then gave announcements regarding the Chancellor’s free speech group and IT concerns in order to “kill time,” as stated by EVP Nguyen and Elections Director Arias. Chief Justice Kacker arrived back around 10:00 p.m., to applause from the Senate chamber.
After discussing elections bylaws and concerns with Chief Justice Kacker, the Senate moved to closed session at 10:11p.m. When the Senate returned from closed session at 10:28 p.m., EVP Nguyen announced that the Elections Timeline had passed. The Senate then adjourned.
