Cordero, Levi face off once more in IVP runoff

By Marcelle Richards
DAILY BRUIN SENIOR STAFF
[email protected]

The race is on again for T.J. Cordero and Justin Levi.

But the elections are out of their hands and into those of
students now.

Today and Thursday, students will cast the deciding votes in the
runoff election for the next internal vice president of the
Undergraduate Students Association Council.

The outcome of the election will determine whether Student
Empowerment! will break even with Students United for Reform and
Equality or lose dominance on council next year.

Currently, Student Empowerment! has four seats secured, while
SURE has five. There are 13 seats on council.

With SURE President-elect David Dahle and Student Empowerment!
External Vice President Christopher Neal in office, the affiliation
of the next highest officer, the IVP, will be especially crucial in
setting the agenda for the council.

Cordero, running on the Student Empowerment! slate, is the USAC
finance committee chair this year.

Levi, on the SURE slate, is president of the Jewish Student
Union. The main difference between the two is funding
recommendations.

Cordero supports the current method of funding groups by the
impact and quality of programming and the quality of their
presentation.

Levi sides with his slate on the proposal of a tier system to
fund groups by size and seniority.

In regard to programming, Cordero wants to start a “Know
Your Rights” series while Levi is pushing to revive Mardi
Gras on campus.

IVP independent candidate Avneet Kaur, who did not advance to
the runoffs, now endorses Levi, citing that Levi and she shared
“almost the same platform” and common interests.

If Cordero is not elected, Student Empowerment! will be
outnumbered on the council for the first time in years. Student
Empowerment! and its predecessor slates, Students First! and
Praxis, have traditionally managed to maintain control despite the
appearance of several opposition slates.

SURE, an opposition slate resurrected by newly-elected president
David Dahle, may break the streak if Levi is brought into
office.

Results will be announced on the steps of Kerckhoff Hall
Thursday night.

Reports from Sabrina Singhapattanapong, Daily Bruin
Contributor.