USAC 2023-2024 Candidate Debates: Cultural Affairs commissioner
Pictured is Alicia Verdugo sitting in front of Royce Hall. Verdugo is running unopposed for Undergraduate Students Association Council Cultural Affairs commissioner. (Courtesy of Alicia Verdugo)
By Dylan Winward
May 4, 2023 6:36 p.m.
One candidate for Undergraduate Students Association Council Cultural Affairs commissioner attended the first of the USAC 2023-2024 Candidate Debates on Wednesday.
The USA Elections Board and the Daily Bruin co-hosted a series of debates beginning at 7 p.m. between candidates in the upcoming USAC election. Alicia Verdugo is the only candidate running for the position.
Verdugo, a second-year education and social transformation and sociology student, said they hope to bring the Cultural Affairs office into a new transition era following the hardships of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It is very important to have spaces on campus that are culturally, socially and politically relevant to not just our struggles of marginalized students on campus … but also for our joy and for our culture and for the art that we bring into this world,” she said.
Verdugo added that they hope to expand the reach of funding for programming on campus through the Arts Restoring Community fund. She said this would include applying for grants from USAC surplus funding to help fund rising honorarium costs for events such as the Cultural Affairs commision’s upcoming annual JazzReggae Festival.
“Next year, I hope to continue innovating the scope of the Cultural Affairs commission at UCLA and beyond,” they said.
Students can vote in the election on MyUCLA starting Friday at noon and ending May 12 at 2 p.m.
