![]() | |
Abbreviation | ASUC |
---|---|
Formation | March 2, 1887 |
Type | Student association |
Legal status | 501(c)(3) organization |
Headquarters | 412 Eshleman Hall, Berkeley, California [1] |
Location | |
President | Shrinidhi Gopal |
Student Advocate | Antonio Caceres |
External Affairs Vice President | Saanvi Arora |
Academic Affairs Vice President | Kenneth Ng |
Key people | Mickael Candelaria, Justin Gomez, Henry F. Isselbacher, Carol Christ, Catherine Bauer Gabrielle Sharp, Osiris Polachart, Joshua Lee, Alfonzo Marquez. |
Affiliations | University of California Student Association [2] |
Budget | $1,678,558 [3] |
Website | asuc |
The Associated Students of the University of California (ASUC) is the autonomous and officially recognized students' association of the University of California, Berkeley. It is the only students' association within the University of California that is fully autonomous from the university administration. Founded in 1887, [4] the ASUC is an independent, 501(c)(3) [5] non-profit, and unincorporated association. The ASUC controls funding for all ASUC-sponsored organizations, advocates on behalf of students to solve issues on campus and in the community, engages with administrators to develop programming, increase student-organizational resources, and increase transparency.[ citation needed ]
The ASUC was founded on March 2, 1887. Prior to this, Berkeley had no residence halls, sport teams, or permanent student organizations. The original purpose of the ASUC was "to organize the Student Body in such wise that it might take effective action upon all matter relating to the general welfare of the student body and the University in general." [6] The organization went on to absorb the Cal Student Store, become the center of student organization oversight, and run all university athletics until the 1960s. [7]
Various student political parties – popularly known as "slates" – and independent student communities participate in the ASUC.[ citation needed ] SLATE, a pioneer organization of the New Left and precursor of the Free Speech Movement and formative counterculture era, was a campus political party at Cal from 1958 to 1966, while VOICE (a radical party) and Pact (a liberal party) were campus political parties at Cal in 1967. [8]
The history of ASUC political parties includes large and small parties advocating for a multitude of interests. Student Action, founded in 1995, is a coalition of organizations, with key support groups being the Greek life and pre-law community. ElevateCal, founded in 2021, counts the inclusion of marginalized communities and transparency within student government as some of its main principles. SQUELCH! is a satirical party which has run and won seats in the past before suffering a major blow in the 2017 elections, when they won no seats in the senate. [9] The Pirate Party centers their messaging on technology and humor, campaigning in pirate costumes during election season. As of the 2017 elections, they held one seat in the ASUC Senate. [10] The Defend Affirmative Action Party (DAAP), founded by national activist and left-wing militant group BAMN, campaigns on a platform of radical racial justice and inclusion for students, though has found relatively little support, having won no seats for 9 years as of 2017 [update] . [11] BAMN itself began at Berkeley in 1995 and ran candidates starting in 1996 under its own name, which, at the time, was The Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action By Any Means Necessary. [12] The major parties from the late 1980s and early 1990s included: the Bears Party, drawing from a similar constituency as today's Student Action; Students for Progress, a center-left party; as well as Cal-SERVE. Minor Parties that won seats during that era included: More centrist groups like GRASP (Grass Root and Student Power), APPLE (A People's Party for Loyalty and Experience), Vision, [13] SEED, a progressive party to the left of Cal-SERVE; Crusaders for the Rights of Undeclared and Confused Students (CRUCS), focused on initiatives to improve student life such as extending the P/NP and drop deadlines beyond the first round of midterms; the Monster Truck Party, appealing to Greek constituencies with the slogan: "what will knowledge of other cultures do if your car throws a rod 10 miles outside of Kettleman City"; the PENIS Party, with the slogan "erect a leader," and a platform advocating for more urinals and a taller Campanile; and the Science and Engineering Party, which advocated for the interests of science and engineering students and who partnered with CRUCS to win 4 executive seats between 1990 and 1992.
As of the 2024 ASUC Election, ElevateCal was the only party to win seats for the 2024-2025 Term. Winning the Presidency, EVP, and 7 out of 20 Senate Seats, with Independents winning AAVP, EAVP, Student Advocate, and the other 13 seats. [14]
The ASUC's responsibilities include allocating student group funding through a yearly spring budgeting process. The finance officer evaluates each club's funding request, length of time as a sponsored organization, and history of funding in order to determine how much money each registered student organization should be allocated. The ASUC budgets in excess of $1 million each year to campus organizations, including the Bridges multicultural resource & retention center. [15]
The offices of the president and the external affairs vice president focus much of their time on student advocacy, often relating to issues of sexual assault, campus safety, student voice, mental health, equality, and diversity. [15]
The ASUC Constitution establishes a students' association with elected officials modeled after California's separation-of-powers and plural elected executive framework. [16]
The executive officers and the Senate of the ASUC are popularly elected by single transferable vote. [16] Chief Appointed Officers are non-partisan officials appointed by the Senate. The six Chief Appointed Officials are the Chief Communications Officer (CCO), Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Chief Legal Officer (CLO), Chief Technology Officer (CTO), Chief Personnel Officer (CPO), and Chief Grants & Scholarships Officer (CGO). [17]
The five elected executive officers of the ASUC are the President, Executive Vice President (EVP), External Affairs Vice President (EAVP), Academic Affairs Vice President (AAVP), and the Student Advocate. [16] Political parties that compete in ASUC elections usually run candidates for the first four positions, while the fifth, student advocate, is traditionally won in a nonpartisan race by a member of the staff of the outgoing student advocate. [15]
In 2019, the student body passed the Transfer Remedy Act ballot proposition, which added the Transfer Student Representative as a unique ASUC office intended to represent the campus' growing transfer student population. [18] The Transfer Student Representative is a voting ex-officio member of the ASUC Senate, serving as the de facto twenty-first member of the Senate and maintaining all of the responsibilities of a regular ASUC Senator. The Transfer Student Representative is chosen a separate election using the single transferable vote mechanism. [18] The position was on the ASUC election ballot for the first time in the spring 2020 election. [19]
Years | President | Executive Vice President | Academic Affairs Vice President | External Affairs Vice President | Student Advocate |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1985-1986 [20] | Pedro Noguera | Karen Licavoli | M. Bruce Robinson | Linda Asato | Steven Ganz |
1986-1987 | Steven Ganz | Nicole Maguire | Tom Malinowski | Christopher Cabaldon | Matt Denn |
1987-1988 | Michael I. Berry | Julie Chang | Beth Bernstein | ||
1988-1989 | Jeff Chang | Pamela Brown | Pete Kennedy | ||
1989-1990 | Tisa Poe | Pamela Brown | Jan Young | Jose Huizar | Bonaparte Liu |
1990-1991 | Bonaparte Liu | Shahed Amanullah | Bess Dolmo | Ben Austin | |
1991-1992 | Mark Yablonovich | Cecelia Wang | Rachel Settlage | ||
1992-1993 | Margaret Fortune | Mimi Aye | Greg Lewis | Tim Yeung | Lisa (Swartout) Zwicker |
1993-1994 [21] | Marco Pulisci | Scott Kamena | Mike Young | Anny Huang | Andrew Wong |
1994-1995 | Andrew Wong | Alex Weingarten | Joanne Loh | Victor Martinez | Auren Hoffman |
1995-1996 | Jeff Cohen | Felicia Sze | Eric Higashiguchi | Esa Yu | Mark Schlosberg |
1996-1997 | Grant Harris | Sharon Yuan | Christina Pak | Renee Dall | Aaron Butler |
1997-1998 | Sharon Yuan | Lee Fink | Margie Brown | Sanjeev Bery | Hikari Kimura |
1998-1999 | Irami Osei Frimpong (resigned) Preston Taylor | Rishi Chandna | Amanda Canning | Shin Honma | Randolph Gaw |
1999-2000 | Patrick Campbell | Conor Moore | Ally McNally | Gray Chynoweth | Jen Shen |
2000-2001 [22] | Teddy Liaw | Alex Ding | Jen Chang (resigned November 2000) [23] Jose Luis Lopez (appointed December 2000) | Nick Papas | Kevin Hammon |
2001-2002 [24] | Wally Adeyemo [25] | Justin Christensen | Catherine Ahn | Josh Fryday | Alex Kipnis [26] |
2002-2003 [27] | Jesse Gabriel | Han Hong | Tony Falcone | Jimmy Bryant | Salam Rafeedie |
2003-2004 [28] | Kris Cuaresma-Primm | Taina Gomez | Gustavo Mata | Anu Joshi | Dave Madan [29] [30] |
2004-2005 [31] | Misha Leybovich | Christine Lee | Rocky Gade | Liz Hall | Dave Madan |
2005-2006 | Manuel Buenrostro | Anil Daryani | Jason Dixson | Sharon Han | Vikrum Aiyer |
2006-2007 | Oren Gabriel | Vishal Kumar Gupta | Joyce Liou | Jason Chu | |
2007-2008 | Van Nguyen | Taylor Allbright | Curtis Lee | Danny Montes | |
2008-2009 | Roxanne Winston | Krystle Pasco | Carlo De La Cruz | Dionne JIrachaikitti | Matthew David Demartini |
2009-2010 | Will Smelko | Tu Tran | John Tran | Dani Haber | |
2010-2011 | Noah Stern | Nanxi Liu | Viola Tang | Ricardo Gomez | |
2011-2012 | Vishalli Loomba | Chris Alabastro | Julia Joung | Joey Freeman | Samar Shah |
2012-2013 [32] | Connor Landgraf | Justin Sayarath | Natalie Gavello | Shahryar Abbasi | Stacy Suh |
2013-2014 [33] | Deejay Pepito | Nolan Pack | Valerie Jameson | Safeena Mecklai | Timofey Semenov |
2014-2015 [34] | Pavan Upadhyayula | Justin Kong | Summer (elected): Jeanette Corona Fall (acting): Pavan Upadhyayula [35] Fall-Spring (appointed): Mon-Shane Chou [36] | Caitlin Quinn | Rishi Ahuja |
2015-2016 [37] | Yordanos Dejen | Lavanya Jawaharlal | Melissa Hsu | Marium Navid | Leah Romm |
2016-2017 [38] | William Morrow | Alicia Lau | Frances McGinley | Andre Luu | Selina Lao |
2017-2018 [39] | Zaynab Abdulqadir-Morris | Helen Yuan | Andrew-Ian Bullitt | Rigel Robinson | Jillian Free |
2018-2019 [40] | Alexander Wilfert | Hung Huynh | Melany Amarikwa | Nuha Khalfay | Sophie Bandarkar |
2019-2020 [41] | Amma Sarkodee-Adoo | Andy Theocharous (resigned in April 2020) [42] Nathan Mizell (appointed in April 2020) [43] | Aastha Jha | Varsha Sarveshwar | Nava Bearson |
2020-2021 [19] | Victoria Vera | Melvin Tangonan | Nicole Anyanwu | Derek Imai | Joyce Huchin |
2021-2022 [44] | Chaka Tellem | Aditya Dev Varma (resigned in August 2021) Antonio Kobe Lopez (acting) Giancarlo Fernandez (appointed in September 2021) | James Weichert | Riya Master | Era Goel |
2022-2023 [45] | Chaka Tellem | Giancarlo Fernandez | James Weichert | Bailey Henderson | Crystal Choi |
2023-2024 [46] | Sydney Roberts | Shri Gopal | Kenneth Ng | Alexander Edgar | Ariana Kretz |
2024-2025 [47] | Shri Gopal | Robert Carrillo | Kenneth Ng | Saanvi Arora | Antonio Caceres |
Years | Chief Communications Officer | Chief Financial Officer | Chief Legal Officer | Chief Personnel Officer | Chief Technology Officer |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2020-2021 | Annie Pan | David Wang | Althalia Djuhana | David Zhou | Grace Luo |
2021-2022 2 | Nancy Kim | Henry F. Isselbacher | Mina Han | David Zhou / Eliana Kim | Oscar Bjorkman |
2022-2023 | Ryan Barba / Jennifer Rojas | Henry F. Isselbacher | Jason Dones | Eliana Kim / Michael Moy | Saruul Amarbayar |
2023-2024 | Jennifer Rojas | Catherine Park | Jason Dones | Michael Moy / Riley Anderson | Vedha Santhosh |
The University of California, Berkeley is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Founded in 1868 and named after the Anglo-Irish philosopher George Berkeley, it is the state's first land-grant university and is the founding campus of the University of California system.
The government of California is the governmental structure of the U.S. state of California as established by the California Constitution. California uses the separation of powers system to structure its government. It is composed of three branches: the executive, consisting of the governor of California and the other constitutionally elected and appointed officers and offices; the legislative, consisting of the California State Legislature, which includes the Assembly and the Senate; and the judicial, consisting of the Supreme Court of California and lower courts. There is also local government, consisting of counties, cities, special districts, and school districts, as well as government entities and offices that operate independently on a constitutional, statutory, or common law basis. The state also allows direct participation of the electorate by initiative, referendum, recall and ratification.
The Daily Californian is an independent, student-run newspaper that serves the University of California, Berkeley, campus and its surrounding community. It formerly published a print edition four days a week on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday during the academic year, and twice a week during the summer. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in California, however, The Daily Californian has been publishing a print newspaper once a week on Thursdays.
Sproul Plaza is one center of student activity at the University of California, Berkeley. It is divided into two sections: Upper Sproul and Lower Sproul. They are vertically separated by twelve feet (3.7 m) and linked by a set of stairs.
Oski the Bear (Oski) is the official mascot of the University of California, Berkeley ("Cal"), representing the California Golden Bears. Named after the Oski Yell, he made his debut at a freshman rally in the Greek Theatre on September 25, 1941. Prior to his debut, live bears were used as Cal mascots.
Proposition 209 is a California ballot proposition which, upon approval in November 1996, amended the state constitution to prohibit state governmental institutions from considering race, sex, or ethnicity, specifically in the areas of public employment, public contracting, and public education. Modeled on the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the California Civil Rights Initiative was authored by two California academics, Glynn Custred and Tom Wood. It was the first electoral test of affirmative action policies in North America. It passed with 55% in favor to 45% opposed, thereby banning affirmative action in the state's public sector.
The University of California Marching Band, usually shortened to Cal Band, is the marching band for the University of California, Berkeley. While it is administered under the auspices of the university, the Cal Band is almost completely student-run and represents Cal at sporting events and other social gatherings. The name of the band is officially "The University of California Band" according to the constitution, but is typically called "The University of California Marching Band" or "The Cal Band". When the band marches out of Memorial Stadium's North Tunnel for football pre-games, it is referred to as "The Pacesetter of College Marching Bands, the Pride of California".
The San Luis Obispo Mardi Gras was a major town and gown conflict in San Luis Obispo, California. In late 2004, the city's leaders called for an end to public celebrations during Mardi Gras, hoping to end the event's reputation as a statewide party destination for college students.
Bear Transit is the bus service operated by the Department of Parking and Transportation of the University of California, Berkeley. Its fleet includes a combination of shuttle vans and passenger buses, provided by MV Transit.
CalTV is a student run online television station at University of California, Berkeley. Since its founding, CalTV has grown into one of the largest student run media organizations on the west coast. CalTV is a chartered organization of the Associated Students of the University of California (ASUC).
SLATE, a pioneer organization of the New Left and precursor of the Free Speech Movement and formative counterculture era, was a campus political party at the University of California, Berkeley from 1958 to 1966.
Nancy Skinner is an American politician who is member of the California State Senate. A Democrat, she represents California's 9th State Senatorial district, encompassing parts of the East Bay.
The history of the University of California, Berkeley, begins on October 13, 1849, with the adoption of the Constitution of California, which provided for the creation of a public university. On Charter Day, March 23, 1868, the signing of the Organic Act established the University of California, with the new institution inheriting the land and facilities of the private College of California and the federal funding eligibility of a public agricultural, mining, and mechanical arts college.
The University of California Jazz Ensembles, also known as the UC Jazz Ensembles, UC Jazz, or UCJE, is the student jazz organization founded in 1967 on the University of California, Berkeley, campus. Founded in 1967, it comprises one or more big bands, numerous jazz combos, a vocal jazz ensemble, an alumni big band, and instructional classes. With a mission statement to foster a community for the performance, study, and promotion of jazz at U.C. Berkeley, its Wednesday Night big band provides free concerts every Thursday noon on Lower Sproul Plaza, its various units perform throughout the San Francisco Bay Area including area high schools, travel to collegiate jazz festivals, and perform overseas, and for many years it sponsored the annual Pacific Coast Jazz Festival. It also provides master classes by its instructors and clinics by prominent guest artists. It has nurtured numerous musicians who have become professional jazz musicians and educators. UC Jazz Ensembles is one of three groups, with the Cal (marching) Band and UC Choral Ensembles, forming Student Musical Activities (SMA), a department within Cal Performances on the U.C. Berkeley campus. Its members are primarily U.C. Berkeley undergraduate and graduate students, representing many academic disciplines.
Student Senate for California Community Colleges (SSCCC) is a California nonprofit public benefit corporation. SSCCC came into existence on April 29, 2015 when a document titled "Articles of Incorporation of Student Senate for California Community Colleges" was filed in the office of the California Secretary of State. Prior to that filing, the Articles were signed by a community college student named Omar Paz Jr. Omar is the founder and "Incorporator" of SSCCC. In his capacity as Incorporator, Omar elected the initial directors of SSCCC.
Occupy Cal included a series of demonstrations that began on November 9, 2011, on the University of California, Berkeley campus in Berkeley, California. It was allied with the Occupy Wall Street movement in New York City, San Francisco Bay Area Occupy groups such as Occupy Oakland, Occupy Berkeley, and Occupy San Francisco, and other public California universities. "Cal" in the name "Occupy Cal" is the nickname of the Berkeley campus and generally refers specifically to UC Berkeley.
Ki Hong Lee is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Minho in the Maze Runner film series and Dong Nguyen in the Netflix sitcom Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.
Irungu Kang'ata is a Kenyan politician. He is the governor of Muranga County. He also is the former senator of Murang'a County, and the former Senate of Kenya Majority Chief Whip, former member of parliament for Kiharu Constituency and a former Councillor for Central Ward in Murang'a town. He is a law graduate from the University of Nairobi and a principal in the firm Irungu Kangata & Co. Advocates located at Flamingo Towers 4th floor, Upperhill, Nairobi. He holds PhD (Law) University of Nairobi and teaches law at Catholic University of Eastern Africa, Nairobi.
The Computer Science Association is an ASUC funded group at University of California, Berkeley, first founded in 1972. The CSUA's constitution reads:
The purposes of this organization are: to represent the computer science student body in dealings with the University of California at Berkeley, its representatives, and any other appropriate organization; to provide a forum for the personal interaction of persons involved in the computer sciences; to promote knowledge of and interest in the computer sciences; and to raise funds to accomplish these goals.
The 2022 United States Senate special election in Oklahoma was held on November 8, 2022, to elect a member of the United States Senate for Oklahoma. The election took place concurrently with the regularly scheduled election for Oklahoma's other Senate seat. The candidate filing deadline was between April 13 and 15, 2022.
Voting in the affirmative were [Norm] Pederson, Steve Greenberg, Herb Englehardt (all of VOICE, the radical party), and Martinas Ycas, an anarchist. Voting against were the conservative senators, and Pete Ross, Charlie Palmer, and Bill Bennet of Pact, the liberal party.