Support for slates split
By Julia Erlandson
May 5, 2008 1:07 a.m.
Candidates and groups spent hours on endorsements this week, but if history is any indication, what the candidates actually said may have little bearing on which endorsements they receive.
Instead, slates ““ the equivalent of campus political parties ““ can count on the support of traditional allies. Students First! dominates among ethnic student groups and LGBT organizations, while major campus life and activity groups, as well as Jewish groups, rally behind Bruins United.
And the endorsements, perhaps not surprisingly, often reflect the makeup of the slates and of the candidates they run.
But while delicate issues such as race and ethnicity often remain on the back burner during campaigns, in the past they have occasionally come to a head during USAC elections.
In 2005, the year Bruins United was formed, candidates from the two slates allegedly hurled racial slurs at one another while campaigning on Bruin Walk, according to Daily Bruin archives.
It is also not uncommon for candidates and supporters to make racially-charged statements after election results are announced.
Gabe Rose, current USAC president and a member of Bruins United, said it is unfortunate that race sometimes becomes an issue in campus elections, but called it an inevitable result of the division between the two slates’ support bases.
“They really see themselves as representing their communities and fighting for their communities, and, inherently, I think they see us as fighting against them,” Rose said about Students First!.
Still, he dismissed the idea that the two slates are truly as divided along racial and ethnic lines as they are often perceived.
“I really think that’s a false impression that gets set up,” he said. “People call us a Jewish party ““ two years ago we ran a Muslim candidate for president. … We run candidates from the LGBT community all the time.”
But both Rose and Greg Cendana, Students First!’s campaign manager and a former USAC internal vice president, acknowledged that their slates have traditional support bases often centered on racial, ethnic and religious identity.
Cendana said he believes his slate’s priorities explain the support of minority students. The slate runs more ethnic minority candidates than Bruins United does, and has a lock on endorsements from the major ethnic student groups such as Samahang Pilipino and the Muslim Student Association.
Though Students First! has undergone some image changes over the years ““ since 2003, the slate has called itself Student Empowerment!, Student Power! and Students First! ““ its underlying goals have remained consistent, Cendana said.
Students First! works on issues that resonate with underrepresented minority students, such as the DREAM Act, Cendana said. The DREAM Act would allow some undocumented students to pay in-state tuition at public universities in California.
Cendana also said the work ethnic student organizations do “is very closely in line with the work that Students First! does.” He added, “They appreciate that work and value that work.”
Candice Shikai, president of the Asian Pacific Coalition, which endorsed Students First!, said the coalition and other cultural groups are already heavily involved in their communities, and so they tend to appreciate Students First!’s work.
“Students First! understands a lot of the needs of various students on campus, the variety of students and backgrounds they come from,” she said. Shikai also said Students First! recognizes that many cultural student organizations already work within their communities.
Cendana added that he believes Students First!’s commitment is key in attracting the support of students who care about these issues, and sets his slate apart from Bruins United.
“Students First! doesn’t see the work that it does for student government as separate from the work we do during the rest of the year,” he said.
Shikai agreed, noting that the issues the Asian Pacific Coalition works on do not end when USAC elections are over.
“A lot of those organizations represent not only themselves as students, but also communities they come from,” she said. “A lot of the issues do happen to align with the cultural issues.”
Rose acknowledged that Bruins United can essentially bank on the support of Jewish groups and Greek organizations, and said the slate’s roots account for that.
Bruins United was founded four years ago by a group of students who were dissatisfied with USAC’s student group funding, Rose said.
Students First! controlled council at the time, and the majority of funding went to student groups who were also part of the slate’s support coalition, according to Rose.
“People were sick of their groups not being able to access the resources of student government and being told that they weren’t worthy,” Rose said.
National Greek organizations were completely denied funding from USAC, and thus were heavily involved in founding Bruins United. Rose said Jewish groups including Hillel at UCLA supported the new slate because some Students First! council members had made anti-Israel comments during USAC meetings.
Stacey Klein, president of Hillel, which once again endorsed Bruins United this year, said Hillel’s historic ties to the slate are important but are not the only reason the group continues to support Bruins United.
“If they didn’t continue to do good work, we wouldn’t endorse them,” she said.
Klein added that she believes Bruins United is more welcoming of the Jewish community than Students First! is.
Klein said during the endorsement hearings some Students First! candidates seemed disinterested in Jewish student groups’ activities and events, and that factored heavily in Hillel’s decision to endorse Bruins United.
“They’re not really willing to reach out to the Jewish community in the way BU traditionally has,” she said.
Though Hillel has endorsed Bruins United every year since the slate’s founding, Klein maintained that they go into endorsements with an open mind.
And Bruins United is relying less and less on its traditional support network, Rose said.
“I think Bruins United has pretty much moved away from being a coalition-based group. … We’re not fighting for any one group. When all you’re doing is fighting for the average Joe Bruin student ““ they don’t have a group,” Rose said.
Not so for Students First!, he added.
“What they’re able to do is every single year get all of their groups in lockstep, and that creates a perception of people of color supporting Students First!,” Rose said.
But Cendana said his slate is always reaching out to new students groups, regardless of whom they represent.
“We try to see how their work connects with the work student government is doing,” he said. “It happens organically throughout the year ““ student organizations approach us, and we try to have a broad range of outreach.”
And though Students First! has historically relied on a support network including major ethnic student groups, Cendana said recent turns of events have prompted the slate to make efforts to broaden its base.
The slate won just two seats on the 13-seat council in last year’s election. That number dropped to one earlier this year when Sanobar Sajan resigned as a general representative after a controversy involving fraudulent e-mails sent from her office.
Cendana said Students First! is now reaching out to more student groups and modifying its platform to appeal to a broader base.
“Especially this year, not having a majority on council, Students First! members on council have tried to find more creative ways (of accomplishing their goals),” he said.
“We try to engage as many students and organizations as possible,” Cendana added. “We try to have a broad range of outreach.”
He noted that this year Students First! will include sustainability on campus as a major platform item.
Ultimately, both Rose and Cendana said their slates do not rest completely on established support networks.
“We are able to get the votes of students when we engage in dialogue,” Cendana said, adding that during this year’s campaign, Students First! would “try and talk to even more students and utilize even more resources”
Rose said Bruins United will pursue a similar strategy.
“If we want 51 percent of the vote, we have to work for it,” he said. “If we want to get the votes of thousands of students, we have to work ““ we have to talk to them.”
