UCSA Students of Color Conference holds march at UC Berkeley

Students from nine University of California campuses marched to UC Berkeley’s chancellor’s home Sunday to demand better wages and benefits for workers in the UC system, as part of the Students of Color Conference hosted by the University of California Student Association.

The UCSA, a group of student leaders that advocate on behalf of UC students, hosts the annual event to allow students from minority groups to discuss issues that affect their communities.

UCSA spokesperson Anaïs LaVoie said about 900 students attended the conference and about 150 students attended the march. Throughout the weekend, students participated in workshops and caucuses on topics such as race, gender, mental health, environmental justice, social media organizing and the school-to-prison pipeline.

Students chanted “UC Berkeley, don’t be racist, pay your workers living wages” and “I believe that we can win,” as they marched from the chancellor’s home to other parts of campus.

Several UC campuses have seen protests in the past few months about UC worker salaries and benefits.

“Unfair wages and the exploitation of contract workers is a threat to economic justice,” said Iman Sylvain, the university affairs chair of UCSA and external affairs vice president of the UC Berkeley Graduate Assembly, who participated in the march, in an email statement.

Sylvain said she thinks students and workers of color feel personally attacked by the exploitation of contract workers who work the same jobs as permanent employees without the job security, benefits and rights they receive.

LaVoie said students who marched up to the home requested to meet with UC Berkeley Chancellor Nicholas Dirks, but Dirks did not respond.

Daniel Juarez, associate vice president of the Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion of the Associated Students UC San Diego, who participated in the march, said he thinks it is important for students to stand up for workers because workers stand alongside students to demand fair tuition rates.

“We knocked on the chancellor’s door and windows to let workers know we have their back,” Juarez added.

Zoya Chhabra, a third-year astrophysics student who attended the conference as a part of the UCLA delegation, said she thinks the conference allowed students from minority communities to discuss the issues they face with other students.

Chhabra moderated the South Asian caucus, designed to allow South Asian students participating in the conference to discuss issues such as political activeness of South Asian groups and how to encourage South Asian communities to be more accepting of women and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.

Chhabra added she thinks a lot of the discussions were focused on discussing student representation in student government.

“We talked about how students that aren’t from our communities and don’t have our experiences represent us,” she added.

Zach Helder, external vice president of the Undergraduate Students Association Council, said he thinks conferences like this have the potential to help students from minority backgrounds to address challenges they have in common.

USAC General Representative Aaliya Khan, who attended the conference, said she thinks while the conference helped her establish connections with other Indian Muslims. However, she said she would like to see more action-based items in the conference.

“I wish next time we can focus on doing some action-based agenda items that help us make more concrete changes,” she added.

Contributing reports by Kat Bocanegra Speed, Bruin contributor.