Grad student emphasizes inclusivity in GSA presidential platform

Jonathan Koch played the violin and wrote his own music as a young child but has since taken on activism as a teaching assistant and graduate student in music.

Koch will run to be president of the Graduate Students Association under Working for Graduate Students, a student-run political slate. He said he became interested in running for the position after he learned the current president threatened to withhold funding from events that included pro-boycott, divestment and sanctions student groups.

The incident motivated him to gear his platform toward making GSA more inclusive, Koch said. He added he thinks GSA represents the entire student community and should not be able to discriminate among individuals or groups it represents based on their political affiliations.

Koch also serves as a music teaching assistant and an officer in the UAW 2865 union, a union for University of California student-workers. Though he is involved in activism through the union, Koch said he derives more personal satisfaction from teaching and writing music.

“I love seeing students take an idea that is new to them and do something with it that I never would’ve expected,” he said.

Koch said he hopes to give students a strong grasp of class concepts so they can take what they learn and do something creative with it. He added he loves seeing the moment his students make a deep connection with a lesson and become inspired to create amazing work.

Koch said he has worked to fight fee hikes for music students. He added music fee hikes are among the highest across all UCLA departments, and has dedicated his time to working with the Student Fee Advisory Committee to lower the cost of obtaining a music education. Koch said he thinks it is unfair for music students to be subject to a higher fee because it takes away opportunities for lower-income students.

Alexandra Smith, an activist with the UAW 2865 union and one of Koch’s friends, said he is very respectful of different viewpoints and always treats everyone fairly. She added she relies on Koch for all kinds of union events, and he is one of few officers consistently present for all union activities.

Koch said he plans to encourage students from various backgrounds and clubs to work together to achieve more effective results. He said he wants to make GSA more navigable so students feel comfortable with bringing issues to their representatives’ attention.

“I feel like my (life) is split between my activism and my Ph.D. work,” he said. “I’m not a political artist in any way, but I want to work actively to (improve the campus) for students.”