UCSA celebrates 50th anniversary, successes as proponents of student advocacy

The University of California Student Association, which works on advocacy surrounding tuition rates, student voter education and student access to resources, celebrated its 50th anniversary in February.

The UCSA is an advocacy organization composed of student leaders from across the UC system, according to the UCSA website. The student association was created on Feb. 11, 1971, after former Gov. Ronald Reagan initiated the first student fees on UC campuses years before, according to its website.

After this decision, students gathered to form the UCSA in order to prevent future decisions from being made without their input, said Tariq Azim, the UCSA government relations vice chair.

UCSA President Esmeralda Quintero-Cubillan added that the organization is constantly fighting for UC students and cares about students when other institutions don’t.

Quintero-Cubillan, a fifth-year political science and sociology student at UC Santa Barbara, said the association’s most recent accomplishment is its work to diversify its student board by bringing in more students with different backgrounds and experiences, allowing UCSA to be better representative of the entire student body.

UCSA Chair Joshua Lewis said another recent victory for the UCSA is the nearly decadelong tuition freeze it won for UC students. The tuition freeze came at a time when there was less emphasis on college affordability and ended only last year, the fourth-year UC Berkeley student added.

The organization’s success and impact are being recognized statewide this year, said Azim, a fourth-year political science and public service transfer student at UC Davis.

Azim said he co-wrote a new resolution on Jan. 31 with California State Assemblymember Jose Medina that recognized Feb. 11 as Student Representation Day.

Azim also said this resolution serves as a prime example of the legislature acknowledging the organization’s success and importance on UC campuses, adding that there has been a transition to policies that exhibit more student-centered experiences and needs. He said the vote on the resolution was unanimous, which shows the impact of student advocacy.

“It is not just us who are on the board,” Azim said. “It’s also the countless UC students who have volunteered their time to help advocate for these measures.”

Alex Niles, the UCSA government relations committee chair, said UCSA is currently working on four campaigns across the UC campuses that are focused on issues such as student voter education, defunding campus police, distribution of free menstrual products and campus affordability.

He added that UCSA also contacted directors of undocumented student programs to hear out their needs and the organization is currently asking the state to further fund these programs.

“UCSA is at its best … when it’s centering the most marginalized students in the UC,” Niles said. “(UCSA) is an important piece of the broader fabric of shared governance. We’re in university where, too often, our administration and state government really (have) no other outlets to hear from students and (don’t) know what student’s needs are.”

Lewis said the UCSA passed a new budget to expand the organization’s impact and allow it to take on even more projects.

One current UCSA project is a $4 million resource center on every UC campus for students who are indirectly or directly impacted by the criminal justice system, Quintero-Cubillan said.

Azim said the UCSA is also calling for the addition of a second voting student representative to the UC Board of Regents. He added that the official vote will be on the California ballot this year and could create a larger student impact on decision making and legislation.

Quintero-Cubillan said the UCSA functions as the foundation of student advocacy across the state and also nationally. The perseverance and deep care that the UCSA holds for all the UC students make the organization even more powerful, they added.

“The work that we do is not for us. It is for the seven generations after us as the seven generations before us did for us,” Quintero-Cubillan said. “We may not always see the product of our work (and) we may not always feel the tangible benefits, but when we do it, future generations of students will feel it.”