Submission: Diversity referendum necessary to preserve critical resources

On Oct. 7, a coalition of students presented the Bruin Diversity Referendum to the Undergraduate Students Association Council, ultimately garnering approval for the fall special election ballot. Referendums are unique because in many cases, students take the initiative to raise their fees by a small portion in order to fund critical services that the entire campus utilizes.

The Bruin Diversity Referendum – which requests students to pledge $9.93 per quarter toward the Campus Retention Committee, Student Initiated Outreach Committee, LGBT Campus Resource Center, Center for Community College Partnerships, student programming funding pools, and more – is an effort to alleviate rising costs for various services that support student success as well as to allow more opportunities for student-initiated work.

Many critical services across campus are historically student-initiated, some of which remain student-run and student-governed.

In 1978, for example, students recognized the critical need for a recreational facility that we take for granted today: the John Wooden Center. Students drafted, voted and approved the Wooden Center referendum in order to fund construction of the facility and continually pay for its maintenance.

Because of its student initiation, and since the facility was to be paid for by students, our 1978 predecessors established a student-majority governance system for the Wooden Center – a model of governance that remains today.

This legacy is meaningful because it means that decisions regarding student fees are made by student-majority voting committees, which are ultimately held accountable to students.

For 2014-2015, undergraduate students pay $17.00 per quarter to fund the Wooden Center’s facilities, legitimizing the model of student governance established in 1978. Additionally, other recent referendums – such as PLEDGE, SPARC, Bruin Bash and Arts Restoring Community – have been approved in order to sustain and grow opportunities for students.

UCLA is special because of its history of student-initiated referendums. These referendums mark the courage of our past and present students for identifying and making permanent, institutional changes for the betterment of our campus.

Now in fall 2014, it is a moment to recognize another critical need: sustaining services that support the success of diverse communities at UCLA.

With Mayor Eric Garcetti’s recent proposals for raising the minimum wage – a tremendous step forward to improving the equity of our L.A. communities – there exists a consequential reality in the near future for many of our campus services.

Without additional revenue, the rising cost of meeting minimum wage – mostly through student employees – will have to be met by decreasing the amount of services that are provided to all students.

Students employed through the retention, outreach and community service projects housed in the Community Programs Office, the LGBT Campus Resource Center and the Center for Community College Partnerships often support and ensure the success of critical student communities in ways that the university itself does not.

Moreover, decreases in student organization funding pools have had a negative effect on student organizations that develop invaluable programs demonstrating UCLA’s diversity to the public.

With the Student Organizations Operational Fund diminishing by about $35,000 this fall – an example of the stringent amount of available funds for student organizations – it is crucial to find solutions for supporting student programming. Although about one-third of student organizations that were allocated SOOF funding did not spend it, the organizations that do depend on SOOF still face steep cuts that cannot be made up.

$9.93 – the equivalent of a casual dinner in Westwood or a couple of snacks at Ackerman Union – is a relatively small amount that can instantly contribute to a student’s ability to attend and graduate from UCLA with a True Bruin experience.

Also, in comparison to other student fees, like the $38.00 per quarter for the Ackerman/Kerckhoff Seismic Fee, the Bruin Diversity Referendum’s $9.93 requests less and contributes tremendously to benefiting the daily lives of students.

With the newly created USAC transfer representative position, the hopeful passage of the diversity requirement in the College of Letters and Science and the search for a new vice chancellor for equity, diversity and inclusion, now is the moment to amplify all aspects of UCLA’s diversity initiatives.

Although it is a step forward to create accountable positions to represent different communities and needs, it is equally important to support the growth of initiatives and services that are currently available to all students.

These services include retention resources, outreach efforts in L.A. communities, transfer student success, community service opportunities on and off campus, LGBT student support, student organization programming and academic travel.

The Bruin Diversity Referendum encompasses all of this.

For communities in need and for the betterment of UCLA as a public university, we hope that our entire campus can recognize the urgency and opportunity of this moment.

Evelyn Tran is president of the Vietnamese Student Union. Live Maluia is president of the Pacific Islands Students Association. Jazz Kiang is the director of the Asian Pacific Coalition. Lila Reyes is chair of the Campus Retention Committee. Luis Sanchez is the internal chair of the Community Programs Office Student Association. Miriam Rodriguez is the chair of the Student Initiated Outreach committee. Wali Kamal is the president of the Muslim Students Association. Hayley Iwig is the president and retention coordinator for the American Indian Student Association.