[Orientation Issue] Viewpoint: Add to UCLA’s legacy of student activism

By Jenny Wood

On behalf of the Undergraduate Students Association, I welcome
you to UCLA, a prestigious academic institution and, more
importantly, a hub of unmatched student activism, service and
involvement.

UCLA students have been at the forefront of social change for
decades. In the late 1980s, hundreds of UCLA students pitched tents
in Dickson Plaza to protest the atrocities of apartheid and demand
divestment from South Africa .

In the early 1990s, UCLA students initiated a hunger strike to
establish the Chicana/o studies department.

In March 2001, approximately a thousand students protested on
campus and forced the cancellation of a televised debate among L.A.
mayoral candidates to demand that the University of California
system reinstate affirmative action.

Today, UCLA students continue the fight for social justice and
equality. Students at this very moment are actively organizing for
same-sex marriage rights, environmental sustainability, the end of
the atrocities in Sudan and increased access to education ““
just to name a few current campaigns.

In addition, UCLA students have led and will continue to lead
unparalleled service endeavors. For example, our USA Community
Service Commission is the largest student-run service organization
in the nation.

Each year, students within the commission’s projects work
together to tutor youths and adults, address the health needs of
Los Angeles communities, combat poverty and homelessness and reach
out to incarcerated youth and neglected children.

In addition, UCLA currently has the strongest student-initiated
outreach and retention centers in the county, offering empowering
service opportunities for students as well as the community.

For many UCLA students, community service and campus engagement
has proven to be an incredibly rewarding and motivating supplement
to our education within the classroom.

I encourage every student on campus to pursue their passions,
meet new friends, give back to the community and develop leadership
and career-related skills by getting involved in UCLA’s
student organizations and activities.

From empowering marches and rallies to fun traditions like the
Undie Run, and from outstanding resources like the Center for Women
& Men to the approximately 800 diverse student organizations,
UCLA is an amazing university with many exciting opportunities.

In the 2005-2006 academic year, let’s continue the legacy
of activism, service and involvement at UCLA by participating in
all that UCLA has to offer.

Wood is the 2005-2006 president of the Undergraduate
Students Association Council. For more information on how to get
involved, you may visit www.studentgroups.ucla.edu,
www.communityprograms.ucla.edu or
www.students.asucla.ucla.edu.