The UCSA President, Raquel Morales, responded to this letter on October 27, 2012.
October 19, 2012
To the UCSA Board of Directors,We, elected student officials across the University of California, representing diverse religions, races, and ethnicities, wish to express our dismay in regards to the passage of the UC Students Association resolution entitled “Resolution Regarding California Assembly Bill HR 35” on September 17, 2012. We believe UCSA has violated the rights to representation of a significant portion of its campus with the passage of this resolution.
Within the Jewish community and across the UC system, there is a wide diversity of opinion with regards to HR 35. Many members of the Jewish community, and many supporters of this letter, believe HR 35 infringes on our First Amendment rights, and still others believe HR 35 is an encouraging step towards the protection of Jewish students. However, UCSA’s resolution capitalizes on an ongoing debate on speech to use rhetoric offensive to many of its constituents. We have concerns in the following areas:
The lack of transparency in UCSA’s process served to restrict the civil disagreement and debate crucial for a university system that promotes free speech. UCSA’s poorly considered processes created a scenario in which there were no public agendas and in which an item could be added to the agenda last minute, leaving no possibility of keeping the students UCSA is charged with representing informed prior to debate. Specific to the meeting on September 17th, we find the unequal representation of groups in attendance, coupled with the mixed reports in campus media sources that indicate this resolution was under consideration months prior to the UCSA Board Meeting, to be deeply troubling. Students have perceived that their External Vice Presidents co-authored a resolution on an issue they actively lobby on, and failed to dialogue with them about it, engage with them on it, or even inform them of it. Without charging mal-intent, we would like to bring to light to the leadership of UCSA that in many students minds, this creates a suspicious perception that UCSA conspired to keep their voices silent on this issue.
The marginalization of UC students on the part of UCSA delegitimizes the only lobby whose mission it is to fight for those same students. As a representative lobby, it is inappropriate for UCSA to take a firm position on an issue that alienates its constituents. UCSA’s resolution refers to "Israel’s illegal occupation” and charges Israel with “racism and Apartheid in the context of Israeli policies” without recognizing the level of debate and dissension constantly occurring around this hostile rhetoric. Furthermore, the resolution takes a stance “in strong opposition to...the racism of Israel’s human rights violations” and “encourages all institutions of higher learning to cleanse their investment portfolios of unethical investments” in companies that do business with Israel. This extreme language alienates a significant portion of the campus community, especially those whose identities are closely tied with the Jewish state. As a governing body, it is the responsibility to create a safe campus environment and avoid making comprehensive statements that can be perceived as an attack on those UCSA claims to represent.
The misrepresentation of UC students to the UC Regents, and the California State Assembly by UCSA is also inappropriate. Very few members of the Jewish community, of which this resolution directly impacts, were approached. This is especially troublesome, seeing as how UCSA finds it appropriate to speak on behalf of “actual victims of anti-Semitism.” This lack of inclusion bars the resolution from being representative of the student body at large, as valuable and relevant perspectives were not considered during the crafting of the resolution. UCSA reinforces this dilemma with its choice of language that paints a false perception of system-wide unity. The resolution claims that “student governments on campuses throughout the UC system have passed resolutions and been involved in actions critiquing and responding to Israeli policies, which demonstrates campus unity.” Our vivid recollection of personal experiences at UC Berkeley, UCSD, and other UC campuses that have considered similar language to UCSA’s resolution, of dusk to dawn debates, emotionally draining evenings, and strongly contentious arguments flies in the face of UCSA’s statement that the language of its resolution is written on the bedrock of “ideals…that most California students share.” We will not stand by as UCSA leadership disregards the narrative of the experiences of many UC students, a narrative that spotlights the bitter contention on issues the UCSA resolution callously glosses over.
As elected officials across the UC system, we vehemently oppose the UCSA Board’s misuse of power and call upon the UCSA Board of Directors to take the action steps outlined below:
- Transparently post public agendas in an accessible format henceforth.
- Ensure that, when speaking on behalf of a specific community, reach out to student leaders of that community.
- Repudiate statements that marginalize constituents and don’t respect the diversity of all students at UC campuses.
- Encourage constructive campus dialogue, instead of exploiting divisiveness.
- Forward this letter to the UC Office of the President, the UC Regents, and the California State Assembly to correct the record and address the misrepresentation of students.
- Hereafter approach communities directly affected by legislation prior to presentation at Board meetings.
- Issue a public apology regarding the egregious violations of transparency, marginalization, and misrepresentation.
60 Undergraduate Elected Student Officials currently studying at University of California Campuses have signed on in support of this letter:
Natalie Gavello
Academic Affairs Vice President, UC Berkeley Jason Bellet Senator, UC Berkeley Zhongjie Huo Senator, UC Berkeley Ryan Kang Senator, UC Berkeley (Tom) Seung Kun Lee Senator, UC Berkeley Rafi Lurie Senator, UC Berkeley Sahana Rajasekar Senator, UC Berkeley Emily White Senator, UC Berkeley Joey Freeman External Affairs Vice President 2011-2012, UC Berkeley Senator 2010-2011, UC Berkeley Julia Joung Academic Affairs Vice President 2011-2012, UC Berkeley Aviv Gilboa Senator 2011-2012, UC Berkeley Noah Ickowitz Senator 2011-2012, UC Berkeley Sabina del Rosso Senator 2010-2011, UC Berkeley Rebecca Sterling President, UC Davis Bradley Bottoms Senator, UC Davis Justin Goss Senator, UC Davis David Bocarsly President, UC Los Angeles General Representative 1 2011-2012, UC Los Angeles Andrea "Andi" Hester Internal Vice President, UC Los Angeles Financial Supports Commissioner 2011-2012, UC Los Angeles Michael Starr General Representative 1, UC Los Angeles Facilities Commissioner 2011-2012, UC Los Angeles Carly Yoshida General Representative 2, UC Los Angeles Yasar Mohebi General Representative 3, UC Los Angeles Kim Davis Academic Affairs Commissioner, UC Los Angeles Stephen Kraman Facilities Commissioner, UC Los Angeles Sahil Seth Financial Supports Commissioner, UC Los Angeles Cassarah Chu Student Wellness Commissioner, UC Los Angeles Emily Resnick President 2011-2012, UC Los Angeles General Representative 2 2010-2011, UC Los Angeles Raquel Saxe Academic Affairs Commissioner 2011-2012, UC Los Angeles Tamir Sholklapper Student Welfare Commissioner 2011-2012, UC Los Angeles Adam Brown Senator, UC Merced Emily Zisser Senator, UC Merced Liam Dow President, UC Riverside Sean Fahmian Bourns College of Engineering Senator, UC Riverside Megan Crail Bourns College of Engineering Senator, UC Riverside David Falstain Senator and Personnel Chair 2010-2011, 2011-2012, UC Riverside John Weng Associate Vice President of Student Services, UC San Diego Baldeep Dhaliwal Campus-Wide Senator, UC San Diego Caeser Feng Campus-Wide Senator, UC San Diego Brad Segal Campus-Wide Senator, UC San Diego Guy Elezra Revelle Senator, UC San Diego Andrew Brian Clark Freshman Senator, UC San Diego Karen Liang Campus-Wide Senator and Senate Chair 2011-12, UC San Diego Roosevelt College Senator 2010-11, UC San Diego Benjamin Hass Physical Sciences Senator 2011-2012, UC San Diego Mayra Segovia Internal Vice President, UC Santa Barbara Jonathan Abboud Residence Halls Association President, UC Santa Barbara Senator 2011-2012, UC Santa Barbara Steven Beringer Senator, UC Santa Barbara Kaitlyn Christianson Senator, UC Santa Barbara Patrick "Mac" Kennedy Senator, UC Santa Barbara Adrian Orozco Senator, UC Santa Barbara Tejas Patel Senator, UC Santa Barbara Kevin Rudolph Senator, UC Santa Barbara Alexandria Choate Off-Campus Senator, UC Santa Barbara Kyley Scarlet Senator/First Senate Pro-Tem, UC Santa Barbara Angela Lau Senator/Second Senate Pro-Tem, UC Santa Barbara Sawyeh Maghsoodloo Senator 2011-2012, UC Santa Barbara Shaz Umer Internal Vice Chair, UC Santa Cruz Andrew Iliuta Stevenson College Student Council Chair, UC Santa Cruz Charlsie Chang Stevenson College Student Council Vice Chair, UC Santa Cruz Sean B. Eckley Stevenson College Student Council Outreach Coordinator, UC Santa Cruz Barry Jakob Stevenson College Student Council Representative, UC Santa Cruz Maximillian Hufft Crown College Senate Chair, UC Santa Cruz |
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