USAC needs strong leader

The next president of the Undergraduate Students Association
Council will have to deal with a great deal of transition and
change. The current Financial Supports commissioner, Alex
Gruenberg, is the right person for the job.

This is not simply due to his slate affiliation, but rather due
to his philosophy about how USAC should represent undergraduates on
this campus.

From the very start of his time on council, Gruenberg has
reached out to groups not involved in USAC and to the Students
First! majority because he believes in serving all students. I
chose to run with him because I saw him personally call hundreds of
independent groups over the summer to encourage them to apply for
funding.

I saw him bridge the Bruin Democrats and Bruin Republicans with
the external vice president’s office for the voter coalition
in the fall. I saw him work into the early hours of the morning on
the Student Leadership summit with the independent internal vice
president’s office.

Gruenberg has proven himself a leader not only in his resume and
vision, but also in his ability to work with all groups, a trait
that is often underrated or overlooked.

Yet leadership is crucial at a time when disputes with
administration have led to standstills in academic policies and
students need to work together on fighting budget cuts across the
state.

Last week, after the results of the primaries were announced,
Student Power! presidential candidate Jenny Wood told supporters,
“This is our university! We own it!” This attitude is
harmful to all students and should not be the mentality of our next
president. Claiming that one segment of campus owns this university
will lead to petty squabbling that will only be detrimental to the
entire campus.

It does not have to be this way. As candidates, Bruins United
believes that USAC is owned by all students, rather than a slate.
And as the new majority, we still hold this firm belief.

Doan is the USAC internal vice president-elect.