Submission: Two transfer students on USAC make for better representation
We, Negeen Sadeghi-Movahed and Sofia Moreno Haq, have decided to join forces and become running mates in this fall special election.
Our experiences at UCLA have been similar. We are two Muslim women of color who have dealt with the transfer process and the culture shift of coming from community colleges to this large institution.
We are dedicated to a high moral ground of progressive politics, with aspirations to represent those who, like ourselves, are underrepresented. We envision an equitable UCLA.
Generally, the leadership structure of many UCLA clubs and the undergraduate student government doesn’t permit transfer students to pursue leadership roles until their second year. This is because board elections for student groups happen in spring the previous year. As a result, historically, transfer students have been pushed out of leadership roles at UCLA. The transfer student representative seat is a move in the right direction, since transfer students comprise approximately one-third of UCLA’s population.
Though the transfer student representative position will bring transfer representation to the council table, it doesn’t provide transfer students with adequate representation. The election of a general representative who is also a transfer student adds to the proportion of transfers on the Undergraduate Students Association Council.
It is imperative that students should remain open-minded and cognizant of transfer students’ capabilities to fulfill roles. We have valuable, extensive involvement as well as experience from previous institutions and have been successful in our endeavors both in community college and at UCLA. More importantly, we contribute to the quality of leadership and student life on UCLA’s campus.
With the diverse experience we both bring to the council table, there is no doubt that we are both more than qualified to represent not only transfer students, but the entire student body. We, Negeen Sadeghi-Movahed as transfer student representative and Sofia Moreno Haq as a general representative, look forward to the opportunity to serve the undergraduate UCLA community.
Voting lasts until Thursday at my.ucla.edu. Visit www.facebook.com/negeenandsofia to keep up to date on all campaign-related news.
Sadeghi-Movahed is a fourth-year political science student. Moreno Haq is a fifth-year gender studies student.
