On Feb. 26, 2025, the Associated Students of the University of California Riverside (ASUCR) called their meeting to order at 7:27 p.m.
During public forum, Rishika Salvi, a fellow under Vice President of External Affairs (VPEA), began by explaining that this past week has been ASUCR Week with tabling initiatives and events hosted by her and School of Public Policy (SPP) Senator Sofia Jimenez. She specifically extended a thank you to the VP of Marketing (VPM), Ashley Estrella, for creating Instagram reels and VPEA Vivian Herrera, for having her committee assist at ASUCR Week events.
Following Salvi, VPEA Herrera continued with her disapproval of the current turn out from ASUCR student leadership at ASUCR Week tabling and events. She commented on the lack of commitment from the organization specifically saying “This is ASUCR week, A, S, U, C, R. That means the whole Association should have been there in solidarity to help.” She went further to mention to all the senators that “You are elected officials. You are a paid official. You should make the initiative to go ahead and help others in the association.”
Furthermore, VPEA Herrera stated she “hope[s] and plea[ds]” that going forward that student leadership within the organization will be supportive of each other in all ASUCR initiatives. She reiterated that this event should not have been a two person project.
She ended her comment by expressing her gratitude and apologizing to Senator Jimenez and intern Salvi for all their work for this week.
SPP Senator Jimenez also approached the podium during public forum. She began by detailing the timeline for planning the event from summer until now. She, as Salvi did, thanked VPM Estrella for her work, and VPEA Herrera and her committee because they have been “the backbone of ASUCR week.”
She continued by expressing that the event has been “a huge success,” garnering close to 100 students at events, describing the various prizes and snacks that were available.
Senator Jimenez also expressed her disappointment at the student leadership turn out for ASUCR week. She mentioned that student leaders would arrive 20 to 30 minutes late to 30 minute shifts while also not “check[ing] in or out with anybody.”
She also witnessed “people drinking [ASUCR week] beverages without permission, and allowing strangers to drink [them] without permission.”
She continued by saying it was students “who were in AS thinking that being in AS gives them permission to steal the things that [ASUCR] pay[s] for.” Additionally, people were “not working,” and instead they were “hanging out with their friends during volunteering when [they] were already short on staff.”
She further called out the staff for “not signing up for shifts and leaving it to people outside of AS or unpaid office staff to run their own days.” Moreover, she expresses that “since [senators] talked so much about accountability, this was a very clear opportunity to prove the student body wrong and that was not taken advantage of.”
Senator Jimenez ended her public comment by explaining that the stress from planning ASUCR week caused her physical health issues. “[I am] grateful for the work that has been done, but this event has allowed [her] to lose [her] respect for a lot of AS officials,” stated Senator Jimenez.
There were two other comments made during public forum. One being College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (CHASS) Senator Anahita Hooshiyari Far explaining a post on the R’Garden Instagram
The post detailed the postponement of the R’Garden Rockout due to College of Natural and Agricultural Sciences (CNAS) administration for “unspecified ‘risk’.” Senator Hooshiyari Far explained that this event was meant to garner support from students to sign a referendum for a portion of student tuition to be given to the R’Garden.
President Pro Tempore Leila Haidar commented that she would contact Senator Hooshiyari Far about the names of the administration to see who can be questioned for more information.
The final speaker in public comment was Rony Garcia, who reminded the Senate and the galley that there would be strikes from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. throughout the week and asked for their support in the strike for better labor practices.
Following public forum, the Senate unanimously approved allocation exemptions of $8,417 for six unnamed student organizations. Also passing 14-0-0 was an allocation exemption request for the Highlander Statistics Society to increase their limit from $1,500 to $2,358 and a grant request of $1,500 for the Philanthropic Association for their 5k. This line item also passed unanimously.
SB-W25-017 was approved 14-0-0 during the Legislative Review Committee (LRC). The bill described an adjustment to the SPP Senator role. All senators were required to sit on two committees of their choosing; however, this bill requires the SPP Senator to sit on the External Affairs committee and another of their choosing.
SPP Senator Jimenez explained that the Executive VP can waive this requirement, however, it is suggested that they work with External Affairs due to the “unique intersection between the public policy major and [the] advocacy work done by the External Affairs committee.” The motion to approve SB-W25-017 was passed 13-0-1.
Following the bill’s approval, CHASS Senator Hooshiyari Far presented the Green Campus Action Plan (GCAP) meeting minutes.
The first item of discussion was a $587 grant for four medium-sized zero waste boxes, or “Terra Cycling” boxes. These boxes are meant to educate students on recycling their items properly and avoid contaminating other recyclables.
The second grant was for the American Institute of Chemical Engineers under BCOE. The project aims to create a “Microbial Fuel Cell” that can convert wastewater into reusable energy. The expected total to purchase the different parts necessary for the project amounts to $1,270.98.
The meeting ended with Senator Reports from CHASS Senator Nathan Baw and CHASS Senator Keaton Bunker. Senator Baw is currently looking into information on Professor Paul Green who was mentioned last week as “coercive” and “threatening.”
CHASS Senator Bunker’s reports consisted of his content with the CHASS Town Hall and LinkedIn with Your Career events, stating that they both had “pretty good attendance.”
During roundtable announcements, BCOE Senator Pham announced a “great turnout” at the collaboration event between the Highlander Action Committee and the Women’s Resource Center. SPP Senator Jimenez reminded the Senate that ASUCR week tabling would happen from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:12 p.m.
