On March 12, 2025, in the last Associated Students of the University of California, Riverside (ASUCR) meeting of winter quarter, multiple representatives from the Ethnic & Gender Centers’ Diversity Council spoke out against the ruling taken by the Judicial Council regarding the trial of the Vice President of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (VP of DEI) Ahman Greene, and the lack of presence and accountability from ASUCR senators.
A formal grievance was submitted to the Judicial Council on Feb. 25, 2025 for review regarding the duties of VP of DEI Greene through ASUCR’s Executive Branch’s External Affairs on behalf of the Diversity Council. The original note to ASUCR’s External Branch was signed unanimously by present members of Diversity Council in a closed meeting, which took place Feb. 19, 2025. In this note, they cited the following concerns: lack of presence and engagement in ethnic and cultural organization, broader campus community, disorganization and effectiveness seen through lack of clear agenda or action plan in regards to DEI initiatives, failure to meet with student organizations and lack of transparency and communication through lack of consistent updates.
The formal petition brought up six alleged violations of ASUCR bylaws, with four of the violations dismissed unanimously and two violations, leading to one strike each. The first strike issued was administered to ensure accountability and adherence to ASUCR duties as VP of DEI Greene failed to hold office hours, and Judicial Council “found no sufficient justification for the neglect of this fundamental responsibility.” The second strike issued was for failure to collect quarterly reports during the fall quarter of 2024.
Alleged violations that were dismissed include that while the VP of DEI has a general responsibility to ensure DEI, there is no explicit requirement which involves “direct involvement with the Diversity Council,” and as the VP of DEI is not written down as one of the 19 members of Diversity Council, he has no set obligation as per duties listed in the bylaws. The second point was that VP of DEI Greene’s attempt to schedule a Town Hall meeting constituted a reasonable attempt to fulfill his duties, even if it was not followed through with due to “national events that redirected institutional focus.” Other alleged violations include failure to provide written updates, which is defined as an informal request by the ASUCR president, and duties to complete outreach and coordination within a specific timeframe in which the Judicial Council cannot enforce an arbitrary deadline.
During the Senate meeting in which the Judicial ruling was announced, multiple individuals came to the podium during the Public Forum to share their thoughts on the decision. Joe Anastacio, President of UCR College Democrats claimed that “to let the ASUCR VPDEI evade accountability is a disgraceful dereliction of duty. It is an insult to every student who expects leadership that upholds the principles of equity, transparency and service by failing to remove an ineffective and absent VPof DEI. The Judicial Council has sent a clear message [that] incompetence and inaction will be protected, and the voices of students will be ignored.”
Alikei Parra, the Diversity Council representative for Underground Scholars shared that “the [Ethnic & Gender] centers already face disproportionate struggles, including limited resources, systemic barriers and institutional neglect. These challenges are compounded when those in leadership positions fail to work with us in a way that prioritizes our needs and respects our efforts. Instead of alleviating these struggles, the current approach has only made our work harder in order to move forward … We will not tolerate being sidelined or ignored by those who are meant to support us. It is time for ASUCR and its leadership to prioritize the needs of marginalized students and work collaboratively to create a campus environment that truly embodies diversity, equity and inclusion.”
The Diversity Council, according to Liz Quezada, representative from the Veteran Resource Center, is a subcommittee under ASUCR with participating members of Ethnic & Gender (E&G) Program Offices. Their responsibilities involve promoting “collaboration, unity Diversity, Equity and Inclusion within the resource centers as well as the respected community within our campus.”
She acknowledges that “working with the Diversity Council has been challenging, as many of us were not prepared to be very much involved with ASUCR politics, as many of us come from [respective] E&G centers and have little to no information about ASUCR. Although the Council was given little to no instruction of what the Diversity Council is and how to go about completing our events that are within our bylaws, we were provided help from other Executive Board members and Senators within ASUCR, as well as the active participation from our Diversity Council Representatives.”
Anthony Thornton, chair of the Diversity Council and current Black Student Success Officer for the UC Student Association establishes that “We will be active this quarter. We will have multiple events. You will be seeing us. We will be involved. We will be talking to every elected official that gets elected in a few months about the importance of DEI. You’re going to see a Diversity Council you’ve never seen before. We’re going to leave on a good note, and we’re going to pass it on.”
Currently, next year’s Diversity Council Representatives have begun to shadow current representatives to understand their duties and responsibilities. Quezada notes, “We have done a lot of work this school year and we don’t want what we did this year to go to waste. This group of Diversity Council representatives have put in a considerable amount of time and effort to be where we are today by going to Senate meetings and speaking our concerns. By having our future E&G [representatives] shadow the Diversity Council, the purpose is to jump into the next year with confidence and to keep promoting DEI on campus and within the E&G centers.”
