On Oct. 7, the Associated Students of the University of California, Riverside (ASUCR) began their weekly Senate Meeting at 7:05 p.m., and adjourned at 8:06 p.m.
A fire alarm went off throughout the Highlander Union Building around an hour prior to the meeting’s commencement, preventing ASUCR from hosting their routine pre-meeting. Alongside this, members of the public were let in at 7:11 p.m. during new business, a few minutes following the meeting’s commencement.
The Office of the Elections Director Joanna Castro initiated special elections for the positions of School of Education (SOE) Senator, the Non-traditional Student Director and Transfer Student Director.
Carlos Mercado, an undergraduate student, was the only candidate to speak for the SOE Senator position. In his speech Mercado discussed the importance of including disabled voices within student government and described using his own lived experience to support others, stating, “The reason I’m here is because I’m gonna fight against ableism.”
The senate chose to abstain from selecting a SOE Senator, citing a failure to follow internal processes and reporting that form responses were not made available to the Senate prior to voting. Castro then announced that there was one qualifying candidate for the position of the Non-Traditional Student Director, however that individual was not present so they shifted into hearing candidates for the position of the Transfer Student Director.
First to speak was Athina Bush, a fourth year psychology major, who emphasized that transfer students commonly struggle to blend into campus life. She stated that if chosen for the position, she would use her prior experience working with the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Science first and chicano students programs to prioritize increasing awareness to transfer-specific resources — creating more opportunities tailored for transfer students and continually advocating for their needs, stating, “Being sure that that is given to those incoming, for me, is essential.”
Senators then heard an address from Doruk Dincer, a third year computer science major, who spoke about his experience migrating to the United States from Turkey in 2020 and learning to navigate UCR. He explained that his personal history resonated with transfer students due to their shared experience with needing to learn to navigate the university, stating, “I want to be the face they can actually reach out to and I will listen to them.”
Following a nine minute closed session the Senate moved to table the elections, citing issues with internal processes. They issued an apology to Bush and Dincer and applications for the positions of SOE senator, Non-Traditional Student Director and Transfer Student Director were extended until Oct. 11 at midnight.
Castro then announced nominations for her committee’s polling coordinators, candidate officers and marketing officers, all of which were unanimously approved by the Senate.
